Company of the Universals
by Darling Summers
Summary: Three years after Connie defeats Kullervo, the Company of the Universals has grown. But Kullervo’s supporters have also grown, and their leader has learned from Kullervo’s mistake. All recognizable content belongs to Julia Golding.
1. Library

**A/N: **I've decided to do a slight rewrite on a good deal of the story after rereading it recently. My writing style has changed a fair bit since I started writing this, so I've edited a few things that I wasn't completely happy with- most of the story is staying the same, though :) I've changed Amiere's name to Aisling, which fits better, I think- that's the only detail that might be a little confusing. So, on with the story, I suppose!

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_**Library**_

"Aisling, what was our maths homework again?" Aisling raised her eyes from her book cautiously. The question was a sure sign that Megan had forgotten her homework again, or been too busy with her social life to care about it.

"Just finishing what we started in class up to question twenty." She lowered her eyes again; inwardly pleading that Megan would go away, but not really expecting her to.

"I thought we only had to go as far as fifteen! You'll let me borrow yours, won't you?"

"I don't think I got any of them right, so there's not much point of me lending them to you. I didn't understand half of what I was writing." She laughed nervously, willing Megan to leave her alone.

"It doesn't matter whether they're right or not," Megan replied flippantly. "I just need something written down, and I just don't have enough time to do it myself before class starts. If you were really my friend, you'd let me copy." She finished with a meaningful glare. Seeing no way out, Aisling reached into her bag and silently handed Megan her copy. Megan beamed at her before leaving.

"Thank you! I knew that you would help me. I'll give you your copy back before we go into class." She turned her back on Aisling and walked away. She gave a thumbs-up sign to one of her friends on sitting down at her own table, and the two immediately began to pore over her homework.

Aisling sighed, wishing that she had had the courage to stand up to her one-time friend. They had grown apart over the years after Megan, realizing that Aisling was a social hindrance, gravitated towards the more popular groups in the school. The only things that really qualified as friends to Aisling any more were literature and the local wildlife. She had always preferred animals over people, but this became more pronounced the older she became, until it got to the point that even being around her own family was quite uncomfortable. Despite this, she still wasn't able to let go of past friendships- they were the only friendships that she had to hold on to.

The bell rang shrilly, signalling the end of break. The courtyard's noise level increased a few decibels as students returned chairs to their proper places, stuffed books into their bags, slammed the doors of the rusted metal lockers that never really closed properly without a bit of force, and hurriedly finished conversations with their friends. Aisling followed the words above her finger until the page's end, then closed the book regretfully. The following two classes passed by without incident, enabling Aisling to cast matters of the maths copy from her mind until the last class of the day.

As she walked into the maths room, Megan tossed a copy at her. Aisling missed, and it fell to the floor. She bent down to pick it up, and after looking at the graffiti-covered pages, handed it back to Megan.

"That's not my copy."

"Well, you see, I didn't exactly get to finish it, and Mr. O'Brian said that he was going to check my copy today, because I didn't do my homework yesterday. I was hoping you'd lend me your copy?" A sudden, inexplicable anger came over Aisling, and prevented her from surrendering her maths homework. Megan had no right to take her work and pass it off as her own.

"There's no way he'd be fooled by that. Our handwriting is completely different, and I'd get in trouble as well if you got caught." She held out her hand to receive her copy, and Megan reluctantly handed it to her, glaring. She took her seat directly in front of Megan, and heard her whisper to the girl beside her. She turned red and shrank down in her seat.

After five minutes, Mr. O'Brian still had not shown up, and another teacher came in to supervise the class. As the substitute wrote the work that had been left for the class to complete, guilt crept into Aisling's stomach, making her feel sick. If she had just lent Megan her copy, there would have been no problem- she could go on pretending that she had at least one friend. The teacher began to call the roll, and Aisling pulled the book that she had been reading earlier from her bag to soothe her jangled nerves. The dog-eared bus ticket that she had been using as a bookmark had fallen from the page it was holding, and she flicked through the final chapter to try and find her place, pausing only when her name was called on the roll.

"Aisling Hollingsworth?" She quietly affirmed that she was present.

After calling out the final name on the list, "Megan Winters?" the teacher closed the book resolutely and began to grade papers. After a few minutes of silence as the class started to work on the equations left on the board, a loud crunch and a mumbled expletive came from directly behind her. The substitute raised her head to locate the cause of the disturbance.

"Miss, my pen snapped," Megan announced, holding up an ink-splattered copy. "Can I get a tissue to wipe the ink off?" The teacher nodded absentmindedly and gestured towards the box of tissues on the desk. Megan retrieved a handful of tissues from the box and twisted one corner of the bunch to hold them together. The green ink leached from her hands into the corner she was holding, making the bundle of tissues look like an absurd bouquet of flowers. As she returned to her place, a single tissue flew out of its constraints and fluttered onto Aisling's desk. On closer inspection, Aisling discovered a short note concealed in the folds of the tissue, and attempted to decipher the blotchy message.

'_You're going to regret that.'_

She tried to reread the note, praying that she had merely read it wrong, but the words twisted into illegible shapes as she tried to focus on them, making it impossible to read.

She raised her hand shakily, and the supervising teacher looked up from the papers she was correcting.

"Miss, can I go to the bathroom, please? I don't feel very well." The teacher gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Go ahead. Will somebody go with her, please?" A barrage of hands shot into the air, eager to escape the monotony of study.

"Miss, I'll go with her, I'm her best friend," a voice called out from behind her. Megan grabbed her arm and pulled her out of her chair, knocking her schoolbag off the empty chair beside her. The teacher frowned.

"You, in the front. You can go with her," she decided, ignoring Megan's furious expression. "And please go back to your seat, Miss Winters." She returned her attention to the papers on her desk.

The student that had been selected turned around in his seat to check whom he was required to accompany and rolled his eyes disdainfully. He left the classroom without waiting for her to get up from her desk, and she stumbled out after him.

On reaching the courtyard, Aisling noted that the boy had pulled out a mobile phone from his pocket and was single-mindedly tapping into it in a manner reminiscent of a blackbird hitting a snail against a rock. He looked up irritably when she took a seat on the bench beside him, taking care to leave as wide a gap as possible between herself and her classmate.

"Aren't you supposed to be sick? Why don't you go to the bathroom, or something."

"You might get in trouble if the teacher sees you here without me," she tried to reason, rubbing the tip of her index finger nervously. She inwardly chided herself for mentioning it as soon as the words left her mouth- bringing the teacher into it was hardly going to convince him.

"I'd be in more trouble if they found me inside the girl's bathroom, wouldn't I?" He shook his head exasperatedly at her lack of response, and rolled his eyes again.

"If you're going to stay here, make yourself useful. Stand in front of me."

"Why?"

"So I don't get my phone confiscated." Aisling reluctantly moved to stand in front of him, resting a hand on a lone cherry-blossom tree, far from its height of bloom, to keep her balance. "The view isn't too bad, either," he muttered, loudly enough for her to hear. She whirled around to face him, thought better of it, and turned back towards the door, unsure on how to respond to his insinuation.

"I'd like to go back to the classroom, if that's okay with you," she finally stammered.

"I don't know why I bothered. Maybe if you weren't such a prude, you'd actually have friends," he taunted. She did not turn around this time; she had given up on trying to respond. Tears gathered in her eyes, but she wiped them away hurriedly as they entered the classroom.

She didn't dare to look around for the rest of the lesson.

****

Stepping thankfully outside once the forty minutes had elapsed, her face fell. The rain was torrential and everyone huddled under umbrellas, jackets or books as they waited for their lift home. Aisling ignored the rain that clung to her long brown hair, darkening it with moisture, and stood in line for the bus, checking her pockets for spare change. Upon failing to find more then a couple of cent, she pulled her purse from her bag just as the bus pulled up.

She handed a five-euro note to the driver, and made her way to her usual seat at the back of the dilapidated bus, pulling out the book she had been reading earlier. A tissue dotted with green ink fell onto her lap, and she slammed the book shut angrily, shoving the tissue into the side pocket of her bag.

The bus wheezed pitifully as it slowed to a stop. Aisling didn't leave her seat, although it was where she usually left the bus and walked the rest of the way home. Ensuring that her library card was tucked safely into its compartment in her purse, she sent a text to her mum to let her know that she was going to the library to pick up a research book for a project she was doing. She felt slightly guilty about the lie, but hit the send button anyway- her parents had restricted her constant trips to the local library in the hope that she would use the time she usually spent with her head buried in a book to make friends- _human_ ones.

When the library was in sight, she stepped off the bus, paying no heed to the ground below her and stepping straight into an ankle-deep puddle. She gritted her teeth and carefully hopped on one foot over to the pavement, placing her dry foot down on the tarmac as soon as it was able to reach it. Taking off the wet shoe, she poured the water that had gathered back into the puddle, finally giving it a vigorous shake to rid it of most of the moisture. This was too much for her supporting leg to endure, and she fell sideways into a small, fluffy plant in a pot outside the library door.

"You stupid shoe!" she yelled furiously, flinging it onto the road where a passing car promptly ran over it. She bit her lip, holding back an angry scream, as she retrieved her damaged shoe.

She limped into the library, sodden shoe in hand, receiving a funny look from the librarian, who wisely passed no comment. Moving towards the nearest bookshelf, the A to C section, she picked a title at random and pulled it from the shelf. It looked an easy read- one of many books about a girl, ignored by everyone until she discovered an amazing power that drastically improved her life. The book didn't look anything special, but she didn't have the energy for a deeper story.

Aisling took a seat on one of the quilted beanbags and propped her wet shoe up on the radiator beside her. She turned the book over to reread the blurb, leaving wet smudges where her fingers had previously been holding it. Upon reading the first few pages, the book didn't appear to be nearly as enticing as the title had promised, and she snapped it shut. Throwing her schoolbag over her shoulder, and taking her soggy, flattened shoe from the top of the radiator, she got up and started to walk towards the shelves again. After taking a few steps, her sock-clad foot slipped from behind her, and she fell forwards. She closed her eyes, instinctively covering her face with her hands, waiting for the impact of the ground to hit her. However, it never did.

She was lifted to her feet steadily by pair of hands, but she kept her eyes downcast, blushing furiously. She looked up as she was handed back her shoe, and found herself looking into a pair of eyes that were shining with concern. A pair of mismatched eyes, one green, one brown.

A pair of eyes exactly like her own.

****

After getting over the initial shock of seeing her eyes mirrored in the boy's face, Aisling began to take in his other features. He had dark brown, almost black hair that looked as if it hadn't seen a mirror in a while, framing a handsome face. She guessed that he was around the same age as her. She glanced at his eyes shyly, to see if he had noticed or shared her amazement, but any traces of surprise that had registered in his face were now gone; only a slight initial widening of his eyes gave away his disbelief.

"Are you okay, Cinderella?" Aisling felt her blush deepening.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for catching me. My name's actually Aisling, by the way."

"Cool, mine's Nick. You know, I've never come across anyone with eyes like mine." His eyes travelled down to the shoe in her hand, and he chuckled. "So, what happened to your shoe?"

"Car ran over it," she explained regretfully. After a moment of silence, Nick burst out laughing. Aisling glanced at the offending footwear, its squashed shoelaces trailing sadly from her hand, and began to laugh too.

"So, do you need a spare one?" Aisling regarded him doubtfully, unable to tell whether he was joking or not.

"Do you, by any chance, carry around a spare shoe with you?" He looked amused at her inquiry, but to her surprise, nodded.

"Not usually. But I had to pick up new school shoes today, so you can borrow one of the ones I'm wearing, if you'd like. They're not too smelly, I promise." Without waiting for her answer, he removed the runner from his left foot, and held it out to her. Giggling inwardly at the absurdity of the situation, she slipped her foot into the oversized runner and watched as Nick took one shoe from a shoebox sitting on the table, pulling only the left shoe on. "There. Now we both have odd shoes," he stated, flopping down onto a beanbag and picking up his book. After choosing a second book without much deliberation, Aisling followed him.

She really felt herself warming to him. There was something about his presence that made her feel comfortable, but there was something else too; something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

They spent the next hour reclining on the patchwork beanbags, talking, laughing and joking. Aisling had never been able to do anything like that with her best friend, let alone with a complete stranger. The closest feeling to it that she could think of was the exhilarating freedom she felt when she was with her animals, but even that wasn't a complete correspondence.

Idly looking around the library, her eyes came to rest on the clock. It was already quarter to six! Reluctantly, she eased herself out of her beanbag and picked up her book, which had been abandoned on the floor, completely forgotten.

"I'd better go… I have to catch the bus," she said dejectedly.

"Can I have your number? Because I'd like my runner back, when you're done with it." She nodded shyly and punched her number into the mobile that he had passed her, while he typed his number into her phone.

"Well, see you later!" Nick called as Aisling shrugged on her jacket before stepping out into the rain. He smiled to himself as he watched her screw up her face when she stepped into a puddle- the same puddle that had inadvertently caused them to meet.

Aisling awoke to the sound of deafening rainfall the next morning. She turned her head to check the time on her alarm clock. She had slept for twelve hours, retiring to her bedroom soon after arriving home. She tumbled out of bed, dragging most of the duvet with her. Her thoughts strayed back to yesterday evening, and of course, Nick. Would she ever see him again?

Aisling contemplated the situation as she walked down the stairs. His eyes especially interested her… the chances of meeting somebody with the same unusual combination of eyes as her was probably around one in ten million, she guessed. It couldn't possibly be chance. But it could hardly be anything more than that, could it? Dismissing the thought from her mind with a shrug, she grabbed her schoolbag from beside the door and left the house.

The next day, Nick opened his eyes and rubbed them blearily before knocking his alarm off his bedside locker. The persistent ringing went up an octave for the greater part of five seconds before it was silenced due to a duvet, a book and several pillows being thrown on top of it. After recovering his once pristine, now relatively crumpled uniform from the bottom of his wardrobe where it had fallen from its hanger, he slung his schoolbag on his back and made his way downstairs.

Later that morning, as he walked into the school through reception, he kept his cool and calm demeanour, even though inside he was trembling like a leaf. He was usually good at making friends and was popular in his old school, but the school was so different to what he was used to. He glanced at the transition year schedule pinned onto the wall once again and followed the receptionist's directions to his first class, praying silently that all would go well.


	2. Penguins

_**A/N:**_ Yay, Chapter Two rewrite! A completely new chapter dedicated to

**Angelmail: **Because you're special, because you're one of my favourite reviewers and because you requested it :)

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_**Penguins**_

"Sean!" Mrs. Stephenson snapped. "Are you paying attention? I don't think that you listened to a word I said!" Rat glanced at the whiteboard for inspiration. The selection of triangles still refused to convey any hidden meaning, no matter how hard he glared at it. He tried to regurgitate what his ears had heard, but had not quite listened to.

"Umm… You were saying that the biggest square is the same as the other two?" Mrs. Stephenson nodded hopefully, and pushed her luck by cautiously asking a second question.

"And in which way are they equal?" Rat quickly flicked through his copy, searching for something a little more substantial than the mindless scribbles and detailed doodles that adorned the current page. Most of the students turned their focus to the back of the classroom, apart from one or two, who kept their gaze resolutely fixed on the whiteboard.

"Volume?" Rat tried, and the class broke into giggles. While the teacher's attentions were diverted in setting the class, Connie poked him in the back of the head with a pencil. He turned around, and Col pushed his copy towards him, a word scribbled across the double page in a slanting cursive script. Rat's face brightened.

"I know! Penguins!" Several people almost fell out of their chairs with laughter and a few others broke into applause, which Rat acknowledged with a theatrical bow.

"Mr. Ratcliff, I suggest that you either start paying attention in this class, or learn to decipher your friend's handwriting." Col reddened, but the teacher did not expand on the subject, as the bell rang for lunch, ending her lecture. The class began to pack away their things, and Mrs. Stephenson had to raise her voice to be heard over the students.

"All right, do the next ten equations for homework, and revise over the area and volume problems we started on last week. Moreover, in case some of you did not know, you are to express your answer in terms of pi. And not in terms of penguin." Connie was still laughing as they left the room.

"Rat, how on earth did you get penguins from length?" Rat stopped walking, and folded his arms indignantly. He grabbed the maths copy from an unsuspecting Col, and held it out to Connie at arm's length in proof.

"You should try reading Col's handwriting!" Connie smiled and shook her head, taking the copy dangling from Rat's hand and returning it to its owner, who thanked her by slipping an arm around her waist and kissing her cheek.

"I like his handwriting. Although, if it was your handwriting in question, I might have come to the same conclusion as you did," she replied, taking a seat with Col at their usual table.

"My penguin will destroy you!" Rat crowed, gaining some funny looks from the other students. However, most of them ignored him; by now, everyone was used to Rat's antics.

"Of course he will." Rat refused to let the subject drop.

"I know that you're probably thinking that you could turn him against me with your universal powers, but if I get Icefen to blow on you, then you won't be able to remember that you were-" Col glowered at him, turning his head slightly to indicate that their non-Society friends were approaching. Anneena collapsed down at the table between Connie and Rat, while Jane waved and smiled at their table friendlily before taking a seat with her friend from the photography club.

"Those two are so cute together, aren't they?" Anneena exclaimed to Connie, following her gaze. Rat snorted, and received a filthy look from Anneena. Looking abashed, he slid down further in his seat.

"So, any news?" Connie asked Anneena, tactfully changing the subject.

"Not really, just tonnes of homework. I swear that new history teacher hates us. The atmosphere in that room is so chilly, it's like taking classes in Antarctica! What about you?"

"Things took a turn towards the Antarctic in maths as well," Connie replied, smiling. Rat glared at her warningly. Anneena looked bewildered, but decided not to press the matter further. Rat did not seem to mind being embarrassed in front of anybody else; quite the opposite, he welcomed it. With Anneena, it was different.

"They would make a slightly odd couple," Connie mused silently, projecting her thoughts to Col, who began to choke and splutter on the mouthful of water he had taken, and Rat thumped him on the back. Connie elbowed him gently from under the table; they had been practicing their silent conversations for a long time, and had become virtually undetectable. She did not want their cover to be blown over such a trivial matter.

Connie had discovered this ability on a midnight pegasus flight with Col and Skylark the previous year, finding that she was not limited to only encountering Col through his companion, but had the option of a direct bond, even in her human form. She had chosen to share this power with Col only, not even letting the Trustees know. Even after three years, she was reluctant to reveal her capabilities to the entire Society, dreading to think how they would regard her once they discovered how she had became that way. A sentence she had read on her first day in the Society written by her ancestor and fellow universal, Susanna Caldecott, immediately sprung to mind.

"Many fear us now; if we abuse our gift, they will reject us, turning us from the king among them to the leper beyond their gates."

She had never agreed with her more.

Col took her hand and guided her mind away from the melancholy thoughts that she had been dwelling on. She smiled at him gratefully. Rat's loud voice brought her consciousness to the surface.

"-only started on the alphabet three years ago, and for some reason, they're expecting me to be the next Einstein!" Anneena patted Rat's hand in mock pity, then got up from the table, her many multicoloured metal bangles jangling.

"Does anybody else need to go to their locker?" All three shook their heads in answer to her question.

"Well, I'll see you in English, then! Bye, guys!" Once Anneena was out of earshot, the conversation predictably turned to Society matters.

"So, are you two feeling nervous about your Grade Eight exams tomorrow?" Rat rolled his eyes.

"Like they're going to put anything on the paper that will surprise us. It's even easier for Col; the people grading our papers are hardly going to fail the star rider on the English team! I'm just glad to get a day off school with it. "

"They're not supposed to take favouritism into account," Connie admonished. Col raised one eyebrow quizzically.

"Well, try telling that to Mr. Coddrington! As far as I know, Shirley is the only person within the Society that he doesn't condemn." The three of them grimaced simultaneously.

"I don't think he minded you so much before you set Icefen on him."

"It was definitely worth it, just to see the look on his face! Why do you think the two of them are still in the Society after their companions got kicked out?"

"That's how I came to the conclusion that Coddrington was working for Kullervo. But what other explanations are there?" Col shrugged his shoulders,

"None that I can think of. By the way, Rat; what do you do for your practical part of the exam?" Rat grinned wolfishly.

"Target practice. The paper is even easier, supposedly. I still don't get why you don't have to do an exam."

"Rat, who exactly would grade it?"

"True. Well, that's one good thing about being the only universal actually known to the Society; you don't have to sit through exam papers!"


	3. Interferences

**A/N: **This chapter is up thanks to the reviews of:

**Sparkleglitz: **Thank you for reviewing both chapters, I love getting your reviews!

And

**Companions Fan: **Thanks for reviewing, it is based on the Companions Quartet only with my own plot and some new characters.

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_**Interferences**_

As the rest of the transition years filed into the classroom, Nick stood by the door awkwardly. Thankfully, nobody had seemed to notice him so far. The teacher came in through the door, and noticing Nick standing there, he barked,

"What are you standing there for? Don't you have a class to get to?"

"I'm in this class," Nick mumbled. The teacher nodded shortly and gestured to two empty seats in the middle of the room. As he started to take his books out, somebody collapsed into the chair beside him. Scrambling frantically in her bag for her things, Aisling didn't notice him sitting beside her until the bell, slightly muffled by the faulty intercom system, rang, causing her to look up.

"Very organized, aren't you?" Nick whispered, which made her smile.

"Usually," she mouthed back. "What are you doing here?"

"I just moved into the area, so I transferred to this school. What are the odds that we'd be in the same class? Thank God we are, at least I know somebody now!" Aisling smiled at this, silently agreeing with him. Maybe she'd finally found somebody in the school who wouldn't ignore her.

Still smiling, she turned in her chair to pick up a dropped pencil from the desk behind her. Once she met the gaze of the person who had dropped the pencil, the smile rapidly fell from her face. The person slid a note over to Aisling. She scanned the note.

"_Wait for me after class. I need to ask you something,"_ it said. Aisling crumpled up the note and put it into her pocket, resolutely casting it out of sight and out of mind.

After giving Nick the directions to the science labs, she waited dutifully for Megan to finish packing her schoolbag. Megan seemed to have gotten over the previous day's grudge remarkably quickly. Aisling wished she could leave the room as she anticipated what was going to be asked of her this time.

"So, Aisling," Megan said, giving her a wide, impersonal smile. "Who's that guy that was sitting beside you? He's better-looking than the rest of the boys in the class put together! It seemed like you knew him."

So that was what she wanted. Megan was an outrageous flirt, and if she got her neatly-manicured claws into Nick… Aisling shuddered. She didn't like Nick in that way, but it would still be awful if Megan did. He would just be another of the popular crowd, and she would never get to know him properly. She felt slightly guilty about her answer, as after all, it was for a selfish reason. But what could be selfish about wanting a friend?

For this reason, in answer to Megan's question, she shook her head violently. Megan's false, voluminous smile lessened considerably. "Oh. It just seemed like you two knew each other." she said, obviously disappointed. The girl standing at the door gave a slight cough, indicating that they should leave the classroom, as a group of first-years were waiting impatiently outside the classroom. Glad to have an excuse to leave, Aisling slung her schoolbag over one shoulder and exited the classroom.

Aisling managed to avoid her for the first half of the day, but it was inevitable that she would see Megan again at lunch. She averted her eyes downwards as Megan passed her table, but at that moment, Nick slid into the chair beside her, and as he greeted her happily, he did not notice the look of suspicion that Megan shot at Aisling. However, he did notice the slightly panicked look on Aisling's face, and turned his gaze to the direction that she was staring at. As soon as he turned his head to look at Megan, her expression changed entirely, to the same false smile that Aisling had witnessed a few hours before.

"Hi, what's your name?" she beamed. Nick, feeling slightly uncomfortable, hesitated to reply. Seeing that he wasn't going to answer, Megan continued talking. "It's Nick, isn't it? Anyway, I was wondering, do you want to come sit with us?" Finding his voice, Nick replied,

"No thanks, I'm sitting with Aisling." Megan looked disgusted for a second, then hid her emotions by keeping the smile pasted on her face.

"Well, do you want to come to the party I'm throwing this weekend? It would be really cool if you could come, you can get to know the rest of the year much faster that way."

"Sure, I'll come. Aisling, are you going?" Aisling looked confused by this question, as she hadn't actually known about the party, let alone received an invitation to it. She opened her mouth to tell him this, but Megan quickly cut across her.

"Of course she's coming! I'm Aisling's best friend, why wouldn't I inv-"Nick interrupted her at that point. "Then why aren't you sitting with her?" he replied coolly. Megan obviously couldn't think of a reply, so pretended that she hadn't heard his comment.

"I'll see you, and Aisling, at the party then. Ciao!" Nick rolled his eyes as she departed. Aisling mimicked the look on her face as she was turned down by Nick when she asked him to sit with her, and they both burst out laughing.

Later that day, Aisling was not in such high spirits. Megan had confronted her after the incident at lunch, but Aisling stuck to her story of knowing nothing about Nick. Now, she wondered whether or not it had been such a good idea. Megan always found a way to get what she wanted, no matter who she had to step on to get it.

The days passed quickly that week, and it seemed like no time had passed since the Monday in the library. Aisling was surprised that it was already the weekend when the dismissal bell rang at four o'clock that Friday. Megan's party was on the following night. Aisling contemplated whether or not to go, but then remembered that Nick's decision depended on hers, and Megan would blame her if he didn't go.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't realize that she was walking home by the road that she would usually go out of her way to avoid, until she heard a voice that was unpleasantly familiar call her name.

Conor Winters, Megan's brother, was two years above her in school. Even while Aisling was friends with his little sister, he constantly picked on her, and still took great pleasure in making her life as miserable as possible.

"Hey, Aisling!" She continued walking, pretending that she hadn't heard him.

"Aisling!" He grabbed her schoolbag, making it impossible for her to ignore him. She spun around angrily to face him, wrenching his hand from her bag.

"Let GO of me!" she yelled. He held up his hands in mock defeat.

"No need to shout! I was going to tell you something that might interest you, but obviously you don't want to know, so I won't tell you." Aisling gave a derisive snort.

"Like I would want to hear anything you have to say," she said, turning to walk away. Conor looked unsure at her reaction. Aisling laughed to herself as she realized that he expected her to beg him to tell her what he was going to say. As she started to leave, he grabbed her wrist.

"Wait! I'll tell you. There's going to be a party tomorrow at my place."

"I already knew that. Now will you please leave me alone?"

"I can get you into the party. If you go with me."Aisling gritted her teeth, snatching her wrist away angrily. She was really starting to lose her patience at this stage.

"I don't need you to accompany me, I'm already invited."

"You can't go without a date!" She could sense the desperation in his voice.

"Actually, there were no conditions of going with anybody. I'd prefer to go by myself."

"Maybe this will change your mind," he whispered, almost threateningly. As his leering face came towards her own, she sensed what he was about to do. She veered sharply to the left and threw a well-aimed kick at his ankle. He shouted out in pain and started to hop around madly, clutching his leg.

"Ow! What was that for!"

"I think you know perfectly well what that was for," Aisling growled.

"Now I know why you're going alone! Nobody but me is willing to go with you!"

"Actually, she's already going with someone." Aisling looked up and recognized the figure leaning against the wall. Nick was looking directly at Aisling, an amused look on his face. Conor looked furious.

"You know, it's funny how your _boyfriend_ is always there to fight your battles," he said scathingly.

"I wasn't the one who kicked you," Nick said calmly. Conor looked like he was about to retaliate, but thought better of it and stormed away, back towards the school. Once they were sure that he was out of earshot, they both collapsed with laughter. Aisling's outside appearance was deceiving- although she appeared to Nick to have thought that the situation that she was in was hilarious, inside she felt apprehensive about what would have happened if Nick had not come around the corner. If Conor was not afraid that somebody would spread the word that he was turned down, and even worse, kicked by a girl, would he have left her alone? The second thing that worried her was his final comment. She hoped that nobody had come to the conclusion that they were going out, and that Conor had only used the remark to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Aisling?" Nick waved his hand in front of her face. "Are you okay?" Aisling was disrupted from her thoughts with a jolt. She blinked rapidly. "Do you want me to walk the rest of the way with you in case he comes back?"

"It's okay, I think that I'm able to handle it if he does. By the way, where did you come out of? Is your new house near here?"

"Just checking out the area; I live about five minutes away, near to the lake."

"Lucky you! I wish I could live away from the town, everything always feels so… choked there. Give me countryside any day!"

"I agree. Less noise, less smoke and more room for pets!"

"Oh, do you have any pets? I wish I could have one, but there's no room in the garden for anything bigger than a pet slug."

"Do you want to come over to my house so I can introduce you to them?"

"Sounds great! Which way do we walk?"

"And I thought you were the one who was supposed to know the area?"

Nick had judged the distance almost exactly, so five minutes later, they were walking down the shaded cul-de-sac leading to it. Suddenly, Nick stopped and faced Aisling.

"My mum can sometimes be a bit… weird, for lack of a better word, but don't let it faze you."

"I like weird. Otherwise, I wouldn't be friends with you!" Nick gave her a good-natured punch on the arm.

"Hey, don't mess with me! You saw what I did to Conor, what's to stop me from breaking your ankle as well!"

"Unfortunately, I highly doubt you broke his ankle."

"Fine. Badly bruised it, anyway." They continued their bantering until Nick stopped to open a large wooden gate. Aisling took a sharp intake of breath. It was gorgeous! There was an enormous, untamed garden, covered in long grass and dotted with wild flowers. She caught a glimpse of a paddock around the back, and a spaniel inside the house was scrabbling frantically at the window, barking hysterically in greeting. Nick had walked over to the door and was searching through his pockets for a key, so she walked over to join him. As the door creaked open, the spaniel that had been at the window flung itself at Aisling, its tail wagging wildly. Nick began to apologize, but Aisling didn't notice. By this stage, the tiny dog had climbed into her arms and was giving her a thorough face-licking. A cacophony of sounds erupted from a room in off the corridor.

The combined commotion had caused a woman with long, blonde hair and ice-blue eyes to come out of the room to find out the cause of the disturbance. Nick's mother, Natasha, was now observing the situation in the same cool, casual stance that Nick had adopted on his first day, unnoticed by the two teenagers.

"Hold on a minute- I'm just finishing up a dental. Nick, could you get a hot water bottle organized in one of the small kennels?" After sending Nick towards the kitchen, Natasha motioned for Amiere to follow her into the surgery. A pug lay on one of the tables on top of a rubber mat, breathing steadily through a tube held in its mouth.

"Sparkle's not usually that friendly with strangers. Do you usually bond with dogs that you are a stranger to?" Aisling was caught off-guard by her question.

"I love all animals, not just dogs. But… what do you mean by bonding with them?"

Natasha ignored her question and began to mutter to herself.

"She can't be just a first order… I guessed at least a second… unless… no, that's impossible, two in the space of five years? ….she should go up for assessment anyway."

Aisling threw a look to Nick, who had returned from the kitchen with a small hot water bottle in a furry purple case, showing her confusion. Obviously Natasha had forgotten that they were still standing in front of her. Realizing her mistake, she covered it by giving Aisling a warm smile.

"I don't think we've been introduced. My name's Natasha, I'm Nick's mum. You must be Aisling; I've heard a lot about you." Nick glared at her for her lack of tact, but Aisling was too relieved to find out that his parents weren't lunatics to notice the last comment. "I couldn't help noticing that you have a real way with animals. I'm a member of a society that protects them. I was wondering if you'd like to try out for it? Nick's doing his assessment this weekend, you could come along too, if you'd like."

"That sounds like fun. Hold on, when is it?"

"Don't worry, it's on Sunday, around midday. If you don't stay too long at the party I hear you're both going to, you'll probably be up in time for it." Aisling smiled.

"In that case, I'd love to."

**A/N: Don't be afraid to review- the blue button won't bite you! **


	4. Exams

A/N: The much-anticipated Chapter 4 is finally up, lol! This chapter is dedicated of course to Angelmail and Sparkleglitz01, to Argand (the insane!) who enjoyed the penguins, and Ms. Cullen who gave me the idea to include Omar! I'd advise reading the revised Ch. 2 if you haven't already done so; otherwise you might not understand the penguin thing :)

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**Exams**

Rat looked at the paper dubiously. There was only half an hour left, and all he had managed to do was draw an admittedly very good but completely irrelevant and useless picture of a frost wolf with his biro. He glanced at Col's paper, which had already filled three booklets, and gulped. His hand began to move of its own accord and soon enough the frost wolf was joined by a large blue-and-yellow penguin. He glanced back at the short questions again. Inspiration struck and he began to write down the first answer, then the second. His hand moved like lightning across the page, racing against the clock. Rat stopped in horror as he reached the essay question.

'Explain, in detail, why the powers of a Frost Wolf are limited to only certain species. Bonus marks will be awarded for any names given of creatures immune to this.' He exchanged a worried look with his two-dimensional animal friends. The penguin appeared to be staring back at him. Rat glanced at the clock in worry, and back at the drawing, mentally begging it to send him an idea. A thought appeared in his mind, and he considered putting it down on paper. With only ten minutes left, it couldn't hurt to make a guess.

"Most species succumb (he hadn't a clue what the word meant, but put it down anyway) to the frost wolf's breath, but some creatures are immune to it. An example of this is the penguin…"

Rat left the exam room with Col and Jessica in relief at the end of the exam. Jessica gathered her copper-red curls in one hand and tied them back.

"I think my exam was okay; the essay question went really well, but I got stuck on a few of the short questions. What about you two?" Col was the first to answer, Rat being too focused on a piece of paper in his hand to answer.

"I think I did okay as well; I'm not going to tempt fate by saying that it went brilliantly. How did yours go, Rat?"

"I wouldn't have been able to get through the paper without your help." Jessica gave him a funny look.

"What are you on about?" Rat unclenched his fist, revealing a crumpled piece of paper.

"If Col hadn't written 'penguins' on my copy yesterday during maths-" he paused as he saw Col about to interrupt-" Well, at least I thought it said! But anyway, I wouldn't have had them on the brain for since then, and I wouldn't have drawn my Inspiration Penguin!" He shook the creases from the paper, displaying the penguin, which he had ripped from the corner of the script.

"I'm laminating this." Connie had arrived in time to hear the last part of the conversation, and began to laugh at the combination of the exulted look on Rat's face, the identical look on Col's and Jessica's faces as they tried unsuccessfully to hold back their laughter, and the sight of the unusual blue and yellow penguin on the scrap of paper. When their laughter had subsided, Rat, unperturbed by the whole thing, noticed Connie's presence.

"What were you doing while we were working our a-" Connie quickly cut him off, to the relief of all present.

"Same thing I always do when you're doing your tests; I studied in the library. The Trustees have insisted that since I'm not doing any exams, I should use the time to brush up on my theory. Practical is no problem, as you know." Jessica smiled knowingly; she was one of the few Society members who knew Connie's secret. The amount of people who could say the same could be counted on the fingers of both hands.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm famished after all that writing. Anyone for a snack?" The four of them pushed through the crowded foyer to reach the café, sinking into the cool seats in relief. Rat looked hungrily at the selection of food laid out for the exam candidates.

"I'm not that hungry; I'll mind the table." Col shot a worried glance at Connie, who was looking pale.

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" Col knew the reason for her faintness; she sometimes found it so hard to concentrate on blocking out Kullervo's presence, whether or not it was still there, that she forgot to block her mind against Society creatures, even though their harm was unintentional. Col bent down to whisper in her ear.

"Shield," he reminded. Connie searched through her mental armoury, which had built up to fill an entire island in Connie's cavernous mind. Raising the shield, she began to regain her sense of self and colour came back into her cheeks.

"Thanks. Actually, maybe I'll have a coffee after all." Col soon returned with a cappuccino, topped with frothy milk and curls of chocolate, followed by Jessica carrying a sandwich and a soft drink can and Rat holding a plate piled high with food, balancing it precariously in one hand. When he thought Connie was not looking, Col stole some of the froth from the top. Connie flicked a spoon loaded with sugar at him, showering him in the small white granules. Connie giggled and held the spoon up to show Col his reflection.

"You look like you have a really bad case of dandruff!" Col mock-scowled at her, which deepened into a real scowl for a moment as he saw the tall, handsome, seventeen-year-old Indian boy approaching their table. Omar seemed nice, and was becoming a good friend of theirs, but Col still couldn't let go of how he had almost lost Connie to him three years ago. He spoke in a low, soft tone as he stopped at their table.

"Mind if I sit here?" Connie moved down the bench to sit closer beside Col; he put his arm around her for good measure. Omar slid in on her other side. Sensing Col's uncomfortable stance, Connie placed her hand on his arm reassuringly.

"Hi, Omar. Where are Ahmed and Liam? Are they doing their exams as well?" Omar shook his head ruefully.

"Liam is. Ahmed, on the other hand… well, let's just say that he'd prefer to hide up a chimney than do an exam, even at fifteen. Mum only found him because he sneezed just before she lit a fire; thank goodness he did. But he was completely covered in ashes and the exam was starting in five minutes, so his is being postponed until next month." Connie, Rat and Jessica laughed at this, but Col merely sat there, cursing the fact that all Society exams were done on the same day. Connie noticed Col's sullenness, and looked at him reproachfully. Col inwardly sighed, but for Connie's sake grudgingly resolved to be civil at the very least, for Connie's sake.

"How do you think your exam went?" he asked Omar in a monotonous tone, staring at the sugar-spoon. Connie smiled gratefully at Col, appreciating his efforts. It meant a lot to her that Col would overcome his pride to make her happy. Omar did not seem to have noticed the exchange, nor did anyone else at the table, for that matter.

"It went well, actually. Having a conflicting companion in the house proved to be very useful. What about you?"

Col shrugged. Rat, on the other hand, seemed eager to share his exam experiences.

"I'm not going to do a post-mortem on my exam until I get it back, but penguins really helped me!"

"I'm sure they did, Rat," Omar replied, nodding knowledgeably. Jessica seemed lost in thought.

"I'll see you guys later; Arran's waiting outside." A smile lit up her face. Connie was happy for the companion to selkies; although she was not the first person to fall in love with a changeling species, she was possibly the happiest. She looked around the table in satisfaction, wondering how Anneena, who was famous in the school for her lopsided matchmaking attempts, would see it. All of her human Society friends seemed to be paired up; Col and herself, of course, Jessica and Arran, possibly Rat and Anneena. Omar, to her knowledge, had also started to date a non-Society member, whom he had convinced to try an assessment next Saturday. She smiled as she recognized that the girl was obviously a companion to the banshees, just like her aunt.

Rat also got up to leave.

"Connie, do you think that there's a laminator in the library?" Connie laughed; the penguin was still firmly in his grasp.

"Yeah, it's in the north wing of the library; you should know that if you've taken out any books." Rat gave a shamefaced grin.

"Fine, I'll show you where it is. I think I might have left my notes in the reading room, anyway." The atmosphere felt tense at the table with only the two boys sitting at it. Col tried to think of something to say to break the ice; if only Rat's giant penguin was there to do it. Omar finally spoke after several moments of awkward silence.

"Col, I can tell that you're worried about Connie with other guys our age, but every single one of them isn't going to make a move on Connie. You trust her with Rat, don't you?" It had not been what Col had been expecting, but regardless, he glanced at Connie, who was shaking her head in disbelief as Rat chased his paper penguin, which he had dropped, frantically around the courtyard, grabbing it in his hand just before it fell into the fountain. Wobbling unsteadily, he fell face-first into the fountain instead with a huge splash. He held the amazingly still dry piece of paper aloft in his hand in triumph.

"You don't need to worry about her liking anybody else; it's obvious that you two are a couple. I know that you don't really trust me because of what happened before you two started to go out, but I wouldn't dream of splitting you two up. So, can we be friends now that's sorted out?" He held out his hand and Col shook it.

"Friends."

"Think about what I said; it might prove useful in the future." Col did think about it as he waited with Rat, who was refused entrance to the library because of his soaked clothes, for Connie to come back out. Omar was more observant than he had given him credit for. He promised himself that he would try to take his advice.


	5. Creature

**A/N:** This (abnormally short) chapter is dedicated to **sparkleglitz01**,(who has reviewed every chapter so far), **WinterBabes, Lime, Icy Dewdrop **(Thanks for telling me that I accidentally underlined Chapter Four), **Jensniffer** (My second non-anonymous reviewer!) and especially to Grace. Rest in peace.

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_**Creature**_

Aisling decided to go through with her decision to go to the party. That was why, on Saturday morning, she was standing in the middle of a clothes shop, eying the dresses on the rack doubtfully. She would have been much more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt, but Megan had made it clear that if she had to come, she needed to dress "normally". For what must have been the millionth time, she wondered why Megan was so concerned with being normal, or why anybody else was, for that matter.

She knew that most of the girls in Megan's clique were unhappy with the way they had to act to be part of the group. Her thoughts strayed to another of her past friends, the third person in their primary-school group of friends. Helen and Aisling had both had to make the same choice concerning Megan, but Helen had decided to go in the opposite direction. This betrayal had hurt Aisling at first, as she was closer to Helen than Megan, the obvious leader of the group, but it turned out that she had been a sheep at heart, needing to be part of a flock. Even if she was clearly unhappy in it. It was clear that she wasn't interested in boys, or fashion, or makeup, but Megan never noticed a thing. Once she had followers, she was happy, and took no interest in them.

Turning her attention once again to the dresses on the rail, she gave up on it and moved to the next rail, once again finding nothing suitable for wear in public. Abandoning the idea of a new outfit, Aisling began to walk out of the shop, but a flash of pale blue, standing out amongst the luminous colours surrounding it, caught her eye. Grabbing it from the rack, she brought it into the changing room.

She had to admit, it was lovely. Not the sort of thing she'd usually wear, but unusually, she liked it. The dress was a soft, silky ice-blue, with a floor-length skirt, which, when she was standing, completely hid the fact that she wasn't wearing heels. If Megan found that out, she'd probably kill Aisling, but it was impossible for her to walk in, let alone dance in heels. She experimented with movement in the dress, and glared at her reflection in the mirror. Every time she took a step, the soles of her runners were clearly visible.

Looking at her reflection again, trying to take smaller steps to reveal less of her runners, she wondered if she'd get away with wearing them, but decided not to push her luck. However, she almost changed her mind when she saw the selection of shoes, but she settled for a silver pair with small heels that were reasonably comfortable once picturing what Megan's expression would be like if she turned up in the shoes she was wearing now. She looked down sadly at her tattered, greying runners as she paid for the dress and heels.

Once the dress was paid for and safely folded in a paper bag, she left the shopping centre as fast as her legs could carry her. Feeling slightly traumatised after her shopping experience, she decided to go to visit one of her best friends. Rua always calmed her down when she was feeling tense or nervous, and somehow, she couldn't help but feel a strange paranoia, that something bad was going to happen today. Although, considering the reputation that Megan's parties had, maybe the fear wasn't so irrational. She didn't exactly want to go, but neither did she want Nick to have to go by himself, and be at the mercy of Megan and her clique.

She pushed these thoughts out of her mind as she clambered down the small, yet steep sun-dappled valley, and let out a low whistle. A black nose emerged from a nearby bush, followed by a dainty reddish-brown paw. The young fox's eyes lit up when she saw Aisling, and she let out a high-pitched yelp of excitement. As soon as Aisling stepped down into the clearing, Rua lunged at her runner, tugging her shoelace enthusiastically. Aisling bent down to ruffle her fur, as she pressed, cat-like, against her legs.

"I'm sorry I haven't come to see you in so long," she murmured. Rua's response was to tilt her head slightly to one side, then throw herself at Aisling again. "I have a new problem. You remember me telling you about Conor?" Rua bared her teeth and growled softly to confirm it.

"He cornered me yesterday, on the way home from school. Anyway, I've made friends with a new boy in the class, and Conor accused us of going out. I really hope nobody else jumps to that conclusion."

Rua gave a sharp, almost scornful bark.

"You're right, and I know it doesn't really matter what other people think, but if a rumour does start, it's almost impossible to just set people straight about it. Any other ideas?"

Rua growled suddenly, her ears pricking up. After rubbing her head against Aisling in farewell, she leapt off her lap and dashed through the undergrowth into her den. Her strange behaviour was not without reason, because as Aisling brushed the dirt off her jeans, a chilling howl could be heard from a distance. Sighing, annoyed that she couldn't finish her conversation, Aisling pulled herself up onto higher ground again.

Studying her surroundings, she couldn't see anything amiss. Then the howl came again, sounding closer this time. Aisling shivered and began to walk towards the main road. Animals didn't usually scare her, but this one sounded like it could be an exception. 'Not that things have exactly been usual the past few days,' she thought.

Hearing the ominous sound again, Aisling began to walk a little faster. A twig snapped behind her, alerting her to the presence of something, following her. She rotated slowly in a circle, trying to discover where it was coming from, but nervous to turn her back on any direction, in case it, whatever _it was, pounced on her. _

"_Rua?" she called out unsteadily. "Rua, where are you?" She heard the howl again, for the fourth time. Only this time, it sounded like it was right behind her._


	6. Assessment

_**A/N: **_This chapter is up thanks to the one and only Sparkleglitz01, who is also the one and only reviewer of my last chapter!

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_**Assessment**_

The creature, for lack of a better word, was colossal. Distinctly wolf-like in shape but about the size of a large horse, or maybe a small elephant. It was jet-black all over, which made its strange mismatched eyes, one blood-red and one a startling azure blue, even more pronounced and eerie. It was from these eyes that the creature glared at Aisling mockingly, holding her with fear to the spot.

The wolf's cavernous mouth opened in excruciating slowness, displaying sharp white fangs. Seeing this, the adrenaline she needed to move, to escape began to pump through her body. Aisling ran though her escape prospects quickly in her head. She had no chance of outrunning it, so her choices wee either climb up a tree and hope it went away, or presume that it couldn't swim and jump into the river, in the valley that was Rua's home. She had no intention of endangering Rua, so decided to go with her first plan.

"_The tree near the dirt track would probably be my best option," _she contemplated, trying not to panic. She had climbed it many times before when she was younger and had first discovered the valley, but she hadn't climbed a tree in years.

"At least, it's the only option that gives me a chance of surviving," she thought bitterly. Bracing herself, she took a deep breath and prepared to run for it.

Before she could put one foot down in front of the other, the wolf pounced, knocking her to the ground. She let out a scream of pain as her leg gave a sharp crack, preventing her from moving. Aisling closed her eyes and prayed that the wolf would finish her off quickly, before she could feel any more pain. But it didn't move. The seconds ticked by, each one seeming to be an hour. But still, the wolf sat there, looking at her. Somehow, this made Aisling furious. She noticed her bag was still beside her. It had fallen to the ground exactly where she had dropped it. Slowly, making no sudden movements, she reached out for it. The wolf made no move to stop her.

She grabbed the handle of the bag and carefully reached inside it, pushing away the soft silk of the dress. Closing her hand around the object she was looking for, she cautiously drew it from the bag, shielding the item from the creature's curious eyes. Without warning, Aisling gathered all the strength she could muster, and hurled the high heel at the wolf's head.

Nick hesitated before ringing the doorbell of Megan's house. He had planned to meet with Aisling at the entrance of the estate half an hour ago. He had rang her phone countless times, but every time it just went straight to voicemail. As she hadn't turned up, he assumed that she had simply forgotten, and was already inside. The door flung open, revealing a short girl with curly black hair and what appeared to be orange skin, wearing a bright pink t-shirt and a luminous green tutu skirt.

"Somebody's had an accident with the fake tan," he thought, an amused smile on his face. However, Megan interpreted the smile in the wrong way, and pulling him inside, she let out a high-pitched giggle. "Hey, Nick! I'm so glad you came! Everybody's in the garage, that's where we set up the party. Come on!" When she grabbed hold of his arm again, he drew back nervously.

"That's great. Is Aisling there too?" Megan made a dismissive hand gesture.

"She's not here yet, but who cares? You can have plenty of fun without her," she whined, seeing that he had turned to leave after she had finished the first sentence.

"Do you have any idea where she is? I tried to get through to her, but she's not answering her phone."

"She's probably not coming, if she's this late. She never goes to parties anyway. Did you try the library? She's such a freak, she spends all her time reading." Realising her mistake, Megan laughed again, trying to make it into a joke.

"If she turns up, tell her that I've gone home."

He stormed out the door, not sure whether he was angrier at Megan for her shallow, gossiping nature or at Aisling for subjecting him to it. On the journey home, he spent half the journey looking out the window, hoping impossibly that he would see Aisling waiting at the bus stop, and the other half glaring angrily at his phone, silently willing a text message or phone call to come up on the screen. As the bus screeched to a halt, he put it into his pocket, disgusted. As he stepped off the bus, his phone burst into life. He hit the answer button without looking at the screen, sure he knew who it was.

"Aisling, where are you! I waited half an hour for you! Why didn't-" He was cut off by the other person.

"Nick, it's me. I need you to come home immediately."

"Already on my way. I'm just turning into the driveway now, actually. See you in a minute."

Nick was greeted by his mother looking uncharacteristically worried accompanied by a dark-haired woman who looked as if she was about to burst into tears.

"Mum, are you okay? What's happened?" he asked anxiously.

"We don't exactly have time to talk. This is Ms. Coolidge, she's going to be your assessor."

"Assessor? But I thought-"

"We don't have time to wait until tomorrow. I know this seems strange, and I'm sorry that I had to call you home, but if you pass your assessment, I swear I'll explain everything."

"And if I don't?"

"We'll worry about that later. Now, Nick, would you mind coming into the front room? I believe that Ms. Coolidge has everything set up in there." Nick stopped short when he entered the room, for there in the middle of the floor, arranged in a circle, were four things that seemed completely useless and unnecessary for an assessment of any kind. Ms. Coolidge gestured for him to stand in the centre. He looked around, confused. Behind him was a small green lizard, to his left, a white mouse who had already left paw prints on the previously spotless cream carpet, to his right a raven that was eying the mouse and lizard hungrily, and if that wasn't strange enough, in front of him was a large crystal! What was he supposed to do, prevent the bird from eating the other small animals by throwing a rock at it?

Ms. Coolidge spoke softly, interrupting his train of thought.

"Please raise your arms and rotate in a circle." More confused than ever, Nick did as he was asked, starting with the crystal, which began to glow and rattle. Nick dropped his arms, astonished. He hadn't been expecting that to happen. Ms. Coolidge looked slightly annoyed. "Please, continue."

As Nick moved around the circle, the animals broke from their stationary states, moving excitedly on the spot as he turned to them. When he had finished, he turned once again to the assessor, seeking approval, or even explanation. She threw the piece of paper and pen she had been holding to the ground and began to clap.

"Amazing!" she breathed. "The company's back!"

**Another A/N: PLEASE review! 152 hits, but only twelve reviews! Come on people, it's less than the square root! Or some such nonsense, lol.**

**-Darling Summers ****J**


	7. Hescombe

A/N: This chapter's a little break in the plot line: not that much happens, but it is relevant later, and I wanted to show that I hadn't forgotten Connie and Col! Sorry if it's a little OOC, I haven't borrowed characters before. Anyhoo, this chapter is up sooner than normal, as I got four reviews last chapter!!! Thanks as always to:

Sparkleglitz01- I think the wolf/creature/thing will come out worse than she did, that heel left a nasty bruise :D

and my three new reviewers:

Companions Freak-Glad you like it, there is some Connie/Col in this chapter!

AussieGurl- This chapter should answer one of your questions, the others will be answered in the next few chapters!

Lollipopz104- I couldn't abandon Connie and George! As for the other thing, I'm thinking about it…

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_**Hescombe**_

"Cowie! Horsie ride!" An exited three-year-old voice shattered the peace of the cool autumn evening. Dropping Col's hand with an apologetic smile, Connie picked up her cousin and placed him on her back.

"No, weel horsie ride!" Over in the corner of the garden beside the fountain, Mags whinnied in agreement. Connie set George down on the ground and he toddled over happily to the pony. Connie began to follow him, but he shook his head angrily. "Want to get up myself!" Surprisingly enough, he did, albeit with a little help from Mags, and they trotted steadily around the garden.

"Looks like you'll have a little competition in the inter-society World championships next year!" she teased Col, who brushed off the comment good-naturedly.

"Maybe, if they let toddlers compete," he acknowledged. As Connie sat down beside him, he took up her hand again. As he leaned in to kiss her forehead, they were interrupted by a gagging noise from Rat, earning him a slap over the head from Col.

"Thanks for ruining the moment, Rat," he growled.

"Anytime," he replied cheerfully. "So, Cowie, how's the mentoring working out?"

"Do you want another slap?" They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments until Col brought the subject back up.

"Isn't George a little young? Besides, now that Kullervo's gone, there isn't any need for it, is there?"

"Evelyn's eager to have him trained, and the Trustees think it's a good idea too. Just because Kullervo's gone doesn't mean the threat isn't still there. We've more or less made peace with a lot of the creatures on his side during the war, but there's still a small group led by Hoo and Shirley's old companion who refuse to negotiate. Not a huge threat; but enough to be going on with." She frowned, as it was not something she liked to dwell on; it was a bigger problem than she let on, but she didn't want to worry her friends. Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, she changed the subject.

"So, are you two both coming to the society meeting at eight tonight?" Rat grinned, highly resembling his companion.

"I'm coming whether I want to or not. Doctor Brock said that he wanted to have a word with Icefen afterwards about his hunting. Apparently one of Icefen's so-called victims was Doctor Brock's sister, and the disillusioned old bag thinks there's a rabid dog out to get her- don't ask," he broke off as Col snorted "so I'm there to give Icefen moral support."

"What about you, Col? Are you going?" Connie asked, noticing Col's silence.

"Can't. I have training at seven, there's a new member on the team, and Mrs. Ridley wants me to give him some pointers. I might be able to get there for half eight, but I'm not sure."

"Who's the new member?"

"His name is Michael, I think. He's the same age as us."

"So you get a Pegasus companion friend, but the only other frost wolf companion in the area besides me is my mentor! And Connie, but she doesn't count."

"You know, some people would count that as a good thing." He grimaced as he thought of the spoilt weather giant companion. Before he had began to go out with Connie, Shirley hadn't shown much interest in him. She only seemed to want what she couldn't have, and constantly tried to flirt with him. Even though they had been going out for three years, Shirley still couldn't accept that he didn't return her feelings. Connie picked up Col's wrist to check the time.

"I'd better get back, I promised Evelyn that I'd bring George back before half past seven. Hopefully I'll see you tonight," she said, directing her words to Col. Rat gagged once again and got up to leave.

"Still company present here!" Connie ignored him and kissed Col softly before plucking George expertly from Mags, who immediately began to wail at the separation from his newfound friend, while Mags looked on mournfully. Sighing, she placed George in Col's arms. Her outline blurred as her shape shifted. After some indecision she finally took the form of a silver pegasus. Col placed the baby on her back and watched as she galloped down the garden before taking off, soon no more than a silver speck in the fading light.

"What's your problem? You're looking almost as depressed as that horse of yours!" Col turned and laughed as he saw Mags mimicking his actions, staring desolately at the sky.

"Nothing. I just hate leaving her, you know?" Rat came to stand beside him, and both of them watched as the silver speck was enveloped by the falling twilight.

"You really like Connie, don't you?" Col shuffled his feet, embarrassed.

"Yeah."

"What will you do if it doesn't work out?"

"I don't think that that will happen. I'm not sure, but I think I might… love her. But I don't want to tell her in case she doesn't feel the same way."

"For God's sake, Col, it's obvious that she really likes you too, there's no way that she'd break it off. So if she won't, and you won't, do you think you'll get married?"

Col burst out laughing from the absurd randomness of the question.

"Where did that come out of! Don't you think seventeen is a bit young to be thinking of marriage? We're not even out of school, and anyway, I couldn't afford a ring!"

"When you do get married, can I be the best man?"

"Shut it, Rat."


	8. Meeting

**_A/N: _**Yay yay yay five whole reviews! You can thank that for the quick(ish) update! I enjoyed doing the last chapter, so I decided to borrow Connie and Co. for a little longer! Thanks again to

**Sparkleglitz01,** (I finally figured out how to send a review reply!)who I can always count on a review from,

My second and third continual reviewers

**Lollipopz104:** Hope this update was soon enough!

and **AussieGurl: **Sorry, I still haven't solved the so-called cliffies of Ch. 6, but I will be returning there to solve them in the next chapter! By the way, thanks for reviewing my other story!

and my new reviewers

**Angelmail:** Another Connie and Col chapter, as requested!

and **Companions Fan:** Yeah, I'm thinking of writing a Connie/Col story after I finish this.

Okay, A/N over, on to Chapter Eight!

* * *

_**Meeting**_

As Col entered the Masterson's barn, all eyes turned in his direction, thankfully bypassing Col to stare at the stranger behind him. Argand chose this moment to peep loudly in distress, grabbing Connie's arm between her teeth, singeing her sleeve. Connie scolded the dragon softly and reached to scratch behind her ears to calm her down. Grateful for the distraction, Col made his way down to where Connie and Rat had saved a seat for him.

"Did I miss much?" he whispered.

"Not really. The most exciting thing was a proposal for two more wind masts, so you can guess what the rest of the meeting was like!"

"What's the point of putting up another two? Skylark won't be happy."

"Yeah, there was a lot of protest from the High Flyers, so I wouldn't say that they're going to go ahead with it. Where is Skylark, anyway?"

"He was too tired to come, but I think he just wants to stay with Michael's companion, she opted out of coming as well. Don't tell him I said this, but I think that he has a bit of a crush on her!"

The teenager who had entered with Col slid into the chair on the other side of Connie as Doctor Brock cleared his throat loudly, signalling that the meeting was about to continue.

"There are just two more things to discuss before we finish up. Firstly, we have two new members to the Chartmouth Chapter, all the way from America. They were on the American team before they moved, and now they have transferred to the English team, so we now have two talented young pegasus riders in the chapter. I hope that all of you will do your best to make Michael and Cloudwings feel welcome." As everybody clapped, Connie glanced at the pegasus companion to read his reaction. He seemed perfectly comfortable with the fact that a room of people was applauding his arrival, whereas if she was in the same position, Connie would probably have blushed furiously and made herself as small as possible in the chair. He caught her eye and grinned.

"The second piece of news is on a more serious note. I'll start with the good news: the company of the universals appears to be back for good. Of course, there's our Connie and little George," nodding his head in Connie's direction to acknowledge the present universal, "but two days ago, another universal was discovered in Ireland." The crowd immediately broke out in whispers, several members glancing at Connie to see how she had taken the news. She turned to Col, a smile breaking out on her face. Finally, the spotlight would be shone away from her. The smile soon dropped from her face at the next piece of news.

"Because of this, the Trustees have decided to call upon Connie to lead her company." The whole room burst into applause and cheers. Connie struggled to look pleased at the honour while inside she was panicking, her heart thumping wildly. She suddenly felt light-headed and tugged at Col's sleeve.

"I'm going to go outside for a minute. Will you come with me?" Col took one look at her pale face and nodded, supporting her with his arm as she walked unsteadily to the door. Once they were outside in the cool night air, she groaned and buried her face in her hands. Col rubbed her back soothingly, waiting for her to speak.

"I can't lead the company! What am I supposed to do?" she whispered.

"Don't worry about it, Connie. You've already been mentoring George, and the peace efforts wouldn't have got half as far without your help. The Trustees can't expect you to do much more than that, I think it's just a way of making it official. I wouldn't say that things will be that different. Anyway, I think you'd make a great leader." Connie looked up at him and smiled through her tears. Col took a tissue from his pocket and wiped the tears from her eyes, then offered her his hand to get back up. A voice behind them interrupted them.

"Are you okay? The chairperson sent me out here to get you. Do you want some help inside?" Col sighed inwardly as Michael approached. He seemed nice enough, but he was a little too interested about Connie. During the training session, Col had tried to keep his answers as short as possible, often offering corrections to Michael's riding as a diversion. Connie politely refused his help, choosing instead do take Col's hand.

"I'm okay, thanks."

As they walked back to their seats, everyone shot sympathetic looks at Connie, with the exception of one blonde-haired weather giant companion who was watching on jealously. Dr. Brock, knowing that bringing Connie further to attention would just embarrass her even more, waited for them to sit down before continuing with his final announcement.

"Although there are at least three universals, we have reason to suspect that there could be a fourth. The bad news is that she has been missing for three days. You may have heard about Aisling Hollingsworth's disappearance on the news already, but we are worried that Kullervo's supporters might have found her before we did. If they are able to convince her that we are the enemy, the results could be disastrous. So if you or your companion finds out anything further about this, contact me immediately. Well, anyway, I think we have covered all the topics that we needed to talk about. There's a few members I want to talk to alone, but," he said sternly, glaring at Icefen and Rat, "You know who you are." Rat was unperturbed by the laughter that met this statement: news had travelled fast about Icefen's exploits.

The barn was almost empty bar the four teenagers when Doctor Brock approached them.

"Connie, can I talk to you for a minute before I deal with Rat and Icefen?" The three boys tactfully exited the barn, leaving only two people and two dragons inside.

"So, Col, are you going out with Connie? You never mentioned it at practice." Rat chose to answer for Col, giving him no time to protest.

"Course they are! Didn't you see them holding hands? I bet that they kissed when they went outs- Ow! I don't remember getting the memo that said I was your new punching bag!" Col noticed that Michael's face fell at this. He debated whether to tell Michael to back off, but his choice was made for him as Shirley stopped to talk to them.

"Hi, Col! Will you introduce me to your friend?" she giggled. Finally, it appeared that Shirley had given up on him and set her sights on something more attainable. And if it got rid of the problem with Michael, well, that was even better.

"Shirley, this is Michael. Michael, Shirley," he mumbled before making a swift departure as he saw Connie come through the door.

"What did he want to talk to you about?"

"He was just checking that I was okay about taking the post as Trustee, but I think I'm able for it. What you said really helped. Thanks, Col."

"Glad it helped." Connie put her hand in her pocket, and sighed exasperatedly.

"Hold on one minute, I think I left my phone inside. Would you mind waiting?" She dashed back towards the barn, passing Rat and Icefen on her way in.

"Did you get in much trouble?"

"We're on probation. Can't touch anybody for a month. Icefen is very annoyed." Argand was still inside the building, holding a small blue box gingerly between her teeth.

"Thanks, Argand," Connie said, removing the phone from her companion's mouth, having to stand on tiptoe to do so. Argand had grown fast and was now around five feet, surpassing Skylark in size. She nudged Connie's hand, showing her that she wanted to encounter her. After bonding with her companion, she could hear Argand's thoughts in her head.

"Connie, I don't like that new pegasus companion. There's something strange about him."

"He seems fine to me. If I notice anything strange, I promise I'll tell you, but he's probably just upset after moving to a different chapter of the Society."

"Didn't look nervous."

"Argand, I have to go, Col's waiting for me."

"Fine. But we will talk about this another time, Companion."

At the door of the barn before leaving, she overheard a girl's voice on the phone on the other side of the wall. She peered around the door curiously. There was no mistaking that blonde head, that loud voice. Shirley continued to talk, oblivious to Connie's presence.

"Yeah, she so deserved that! Anyway, oh my god, I am so annoyed right now. You know the way I have a massive crush on Col? That weirdo Connie's boyfriend? Yeah, I don't know what he sees in her either. I know that I'm a lot prettier than she is. I was flirting with Col's friend, to try to make him jealous, obviously, but his friend likes Connie as well! I know! I can't believe it! What's so special about her, anyway?"

Connie waited until Shirley had left before making her exit. Well, she certainly wasn't going to repeat that conversation to anybody. Col and Rat had waited for her, and she ran up to walk beside them.

"Sorry I took so long, Argand wanted to talk to me." Rat nodded understandingly.

"Was it about the Trustee thing? Look on the bright side; at least they can't threaten to kick you out of the Society any more!"

"Shut it, Rat."

**Another A/N: I'm very proud of myself; I posted something for three days in a row! Only two of them were chapters in this, though, the third was a songfic for Twilight that I wrote yesterday. If you're a Twilight fan, take a look and tell me what you think!**

**-Darling Summers :)**


	9. Disappearance

**A/N:** This is my fastest update yet! If I continue to get so many reviews, the updates will continue! Thank you to all my reviewers;

**Sparkleglitz01:** Yes, I think Shirley is evil lol, and there will be more "Evil Shirley" in later chapters!

**Lollipopz104: **Here's another quick update, lol! You'll find out what happened to Amiere in this chapter!

**Angel Mail:** I've actually started writing one! I'm starting my Mock Junior Certificate (Irish version of GCSE's) on Wednesday, though, so it might not be posted for a while. When I get around to finishing the first chapter, I'll let everyone know!

and **AussieGurl:** Yes, you're absolutely right about the second name! You're very observant, I was wondering if anyone would notice that!

* * *

**Disappearance**

The silver heel flew in slow motion and bounced off the wolf's head. The look on its face, a mix of bafflement and surprise, was too much for Aisling to handle. She did the worst thing she could have possibly done in that moment, and burst out laughing. The wolf growled loudly and her laughter stopped abruptly. Aisling prepared herself for the worst as it opened its mouth, still growling menacingly at her. But what came out of its mouth was the furthest thing possible from what she had expected.

"How dare you!" it roared. Aisling paled as she heard it speak and her head spun.

"Am I going mad?" she thought. "Is it just me, or did that wolf just talk to me?" The wolf spoke again, looking her directly in the eye as it snarled,

"How dare you touch me in such a way, Universal? How can you treat your companion like that?" Aisling tried to answer, but all that came out was a high-pitched squeak. She tried again.

"I'm sorry, you must have me confused with somebody else." It let out a low, throaty chuckle.

"I know my companion when I see her. I've been watching you for a while, you and the other universal. I must say, you ruined my plans by coming here alone. One universal could do so much, but two…" he broke off. "If only Kullervo could have been here to see this. I miss him." A tear sparkled in his ultramarine eye. This one show of weakness caused Aisling to forget her fears; she no longer saw a vicious wolf, but a wounded creature in need of comfort. On impulse, she flung her arms around it and stroked its rough pelt. It shook her off easily and turned around to glare at her angrily as she sat on the forest floor, shell-shocked.

"Don't touch me! It was you humans that killed him! Even though I need a universal to avenge him, to fulfil his life's dream, I could never sink so low as to be comforted by a human! I won't make the same mistakes as my father did. He claimed to hate humans, but he got entangled too deep with that puny black-haired girl, who already believed fervently in the Society's lies! I warned him to wait, to bide his time until a new, less headstrong, untrained universal came along, but he didn't listen! It was his undoing, and now that treacherous Society is stronger than ever! But then again, he tried to get the universals on his side. The only humans that had the potential to be useful, but none of them cared enough about the mythical creatures to realise that the human race is a mistake, a threat to all other creatures on the planet. But you love us, don't you? Do you love us enough to do the only thing that could truly protect us?" It turned to look at Aisling pleadingly. She knew that there was something wrong, something dangerous about its plea, but she found herself powerless to refuse, held in a trance. Something inside her prevented her from submitting to it, and the two parts of her battled for dominance, while Aisling lay there, saying nothing as it waited impatiently for an answer.

"I can see that you need a bit more convincing. Touch me, and I will show you what I mean, Universal."

Her internal battle raged on, preventing her from moving.

"Encounter me!" it howled. Her hand moved involuntarily like a magnet to metal towards its side. She screamed with pain as she made contact with it; this time, it burned. It felt like her hand was on fire, but she could not withdraw it. The wolf smiled cruelly, revelling in her pain. His thoughts began to run through her head, each one like an electric shock.

Rivers running polluted, the fish gasping for air. Forests transforming before her eyes from a lush green paradise to a grey no-man's-land where the lone trees left standing were long dead, their branches stripped and their trunks ruined by acid rain. Rich pastures faded to deserts.

The thoughts came faster, less detailed. A father who had abandoned him. A mother he never knew, a mother who was also his aunt. An existence doomed to roam the earth as a shape shifting spirit, to pay for his father's crimes. A million lifetimes, living in his father's shadow, always trying to please him, even though he was looked on as no more than a weapon. Empty promises, illusions of affection. She now knew his name, his namesake being Kullervo's own father, murdered by his uncle.

"Stop!" he growled. Aisling had seen more than Kulevro had intended her to see.

"Universal, what is your decision? Will you continue to let your kind plunder the earth? Or will you help me?" His question did not process through Aisling's head. Her attention was focused on the small red fox standing defiantly behind him. She let out a short yap, as if to say,

"Mine!" and ran to tug at Aisling's shoelaces, trying to drag her out of harm's way. Kulevro angrily batted Rua away, leaving her crumpled in a heap at the valley's edge.

"No! Rua!" Aisling screamed, clawing, punching and kicking Kulevro for all her worth, in a desperate attempt to check if her friend was still alive.

"I hate you!" she screamed. "I'll never help you, you monster!" For a moment, she was only attacking smoke. Taking her chance, assuming that he had disappeared, she tried to run, but the thick, black cloud made it impossible to move, cutting off her air supply. She felt nothing as the black griffon carried her away in its claws.

Nick looked at the assessor confusedly; what did she mean? Natasha, who had been waiting outside the door, burst into the room and swept him into a tight hug. She held him back at arm's length to look at him. Ms. Coolidge, after murmuring her congratulations, left the room.

"Nick, I'm so glad I can finally explain everything. The society isn't a wildlife organization, that's just our cover story. What we really protect is mythical creatures."

"What do you mean? Doesn't 'mythical' mean they don't exist?"

"That's exactly what we want people to think. If anybody outside the Society found out about them, it would spell disaster for the creatures that we strive to protect. I know I promised that I would explain everything to you, but I don't have enough time to tell you more than the basics. Listen carefully. The mythical creatures and their companions are divided into four companies; the Company of the Four Elements, which I belong to, the Company of Winged Creatures, the Company of Two and Four-legged Creatures, and the Company of Reptiles and Sea Creatures. However, there is a fifth company, but its numbers are very few and rare. That's the company that you belong to. Besides you, there are only two known universals. Members of the company can bond with every creature-" She was interrupted by her son.

"So that's what you meant when you were talking to Aisling!"

"I have a feeling that you're not the only new universal. And that's what I'm worried about. I have some bad news. Come with me." Nick knew that as his mother worked as a vet, she had an extension built onto the house to monitor animals that needed overnight attention, but Natasha rarely used it, so Nick was confused as to why she had brought him there.

"Take a look in that cage there." Nick couldn't help but gasp when he saw the state of the animal inside the enclosure. It had a long, claw-shaped gash across its side which had been cleaned and lanced, so its deepness was apparent. The rest of its body was covered with blood-matted fur, and its leg was set in plaster.

"She wouldn't let us wash her. Would you have a go at it?" Nick slowly held out his hand to her, which she sniffed unenthusiastically. Removing her from the cage, he gently rinsed her down. By the time he had finished, the little fox gazed at Nick with a look of intent trust in her eyes.

"Glacier found this with her. I think you might recognize it." Nick stared in disbelief at the dishevelled and now bloodstained runner that he instantly recognized as Aisling's.


	10. Trustees

_**A/N: **_This might be my last chapter for a while, but I promise that if I can, I'll try to get one up before Friday, Saturday at the latest. I hate exams… Anyway, thank you to my reviewers

**Sparkleglitz01**(who reviewed both stories!)**:** Thank you! I'm kinda worried about Art; can't draw to save my life! Why couldn't Music and English been on the first day instead of the last…

**Lollipopz104: **I did indeed! It's great to get story ideas from my reviewers, keep them coming!

and **Angelmail, **(who reviewed twice in one chapter!)**:** Aww, thank you! I'll be fifteen on the tenth of February :) As for your other question, I hadn't realized I had it rated T! I've changed it to K now; thanks for letting me know!

* * *

**Trustees**

Connie was woken abruptly by a sharp knocking on the door. She tried ignoring it, blocking out the sound with her pillow, but whoever was outside was obviously very persistent. She left her bed regretfully, throwing a dressing gown over her nightdress as she drew the curtains slightly to find out who would visit at -checking her clock- two o'clock in the morning. She immediately identified the battered old car parked outside the house. But what could Mr. Coddrington be doing down from London that early in the morning? She heard Evelyn shuffle downstairs and open the door, followed by the low murmur of whispering voices. The door closed softly, and a squeak came from the fourth step on the stairs, signifying that Evelyn was on her way back up. The door creaked softly as it was opened, flooding the room with light from the hallway.

"Connie?" she called softly, assuming that the bundle of tangled sheets was her niece. Connie emerged from behind the curtain guiltily.

"Oh, good. You're already up. Mr Coddrington is here with a message from the Trustees; could you get dressed and come down to the kitchen?" Connie nodded absentmindedly as she rummaged though her wardrobe. Pulling on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, she ran down the stairs and skidded into the kitchen, earning a look of disgust from Mr. Coddrington. After being frozen to the spot for half an hour by a stone sprite arrow from Connie, he had been a lot more careful around the universal, but it didn't stop him from making her life as difficult as possible.

"Miss Lionheart, I see you have finally decided to join us." Connie fought to keep the look of extreme dislike off her face. Evelyn, sensing her plight, broke the stony silence.

"So, Mr. Coddrington, what are you doing down in Hescombe so early in the morning? Couldn't the Trustees have phoned to leave the message?" Mr. Coddrington sniffed in disdain.

"I can't see why I had to act as messenger either; but apparently, the Trustees have called an emergency meeting at the headquarters, that your niece needs to be present at, and I was the only person available to carry the message. Miss Lionheart, we need to leave immediately, there is another Society member that I need to pick up at the airport."

"I'll make my own way to the headquarters, thanks." Feeling slightly guilty that somebody would have to endure the torture that was sitting in a car with possibly the most boring person alive for an hour, she left the room.

Shutting the bathroom door, Connie began to run the bath, pulling the plug out so that the water could escape. The slender foot that dipped into the water, merging with it instantly, was completely transparent. Transporting herself through the mains water system in the form of a water sprite was not her favourite way to travel, but it was probably the fastest. Within moments of placing her foot within the bathtub, she had arrived at the bubbling fountain in the courtyard of the building. Connie stepped out of the fountain, reverting to her original form and almost giving a pair of pigeons- who were eyeing the fountain greedily, probably contemplating the fish content- a heart attack.

She knew her way well around the Society headquarters by this point; the library there was almost like her second home. After her transformation, the door guard had relaxed on the rules a little, allowing her to take books from the room, which were moved to a less hazardous area in the library for general use. The real secrets of the universals were kept in the original room, guarded jealously by the great snake.

The great marble foyer was empty, completely devoid of visitors. The squeak of Connie's runners against the polished floor echoed all around the cavernous room, notifying the Trustees for the Company of the Four Elements of her arrival. The double doors had already been thrown open, and Connie walked into the chamber of council, joining her fellow Trustees. Windfoal was the first to congratulate her on her new position, once the shared bond had been reached out to all present in the room.

"Well done, Connie. It is good to have a universal finally leading us again." Connie's shadow-self bowed her head in acknowledgement.

"Why have you called me here? I can't help but point out that this isn't the best time for a congratulatory meeting." Kinga smiled at this.

"You are already aware of the newest additions to your company; but the missing universal, Aisling Hollingsworth, is a bigger problem than the Society needs to know about. Of course, we've shared the basic details, but we don't want to give grounds for panic until the rumours are confirmed."

"What rumours?" Jade picked up from where Kinga had left off; her smooth, silky voice accentuating the soft waves rippling through Connie's oceanic mind.

"There have been rumours, rumours that Kullervo's forces have a new leader. One who is unlike anything we have ever seen before, apart from the one that you have defeated." Connie sank to her knees in disbelief. Another Kullervo?

"Do not fear, universal. This malignant spirit is not half as advanced as our old foe." Storm-Bird seemed to disagree with this statement, and his doubts were voiced by his companion.

"But he is still a threat. If he is the one who has taken Aisling, the consequences could be life-threatening to every human on the planet. We cannot assume that he is not as powerful as Kullervo, or less prejudiced towards the society. We should take every precaution to stop him from finding her, if he hasn't already done so."

"I agree," broke in Mr. Chan. "We should take precautions, especially with the untrained universals within the society. Connie, with your agreement, the mentoring of your little cousin should continue, along with the basic training of the new universal."

"Speaking of which, where is Mr. Coddrington? Shouldn't he have arrived with you?"

"I didn't feel that… riding in a car this early in the morning would agree with my stomach." Morjik gave out a low chuckle at this; all of the Trustees were already familiar with the ongoing feud between the universal and the assessor.

The door banged loudly at this point, breaking Connie's concentration and ending the encounter.

"Miss Lionheart?" he spluttered. "How did you get here before me?" Connie had kept her shape shifting powers to herself as much as possible, only letting her closest friends within the society and the Trustees know of her secret, so she had gotten used to coming up with excuses for her strange behaviour as a result of her powers, a more advanced form of the white lies she told Anneena and Jane about the Society to satisfy their curiosity.

"Borrowed Skylark. Not that it's any of your business," she couldn't help but finish. There was no sign that the Trustees found this amusing, apart from the ghost of a smile that flickered on Kira's face for a moment before rapidly fading. Mr. Coddrington wisely ignored the thinly-veiled insult and changed the subject.

"I'll just go finish the filing before I leave. I'll put Miss Hollingsworth's file on pending, shall I?" Not waiting for an answer, he turned and left, leaving a person standing awkwardly in the doorway behind him. Kira smiled and ushered him in to stand with Connie in the middle of the floor.

"Connie, this is Nick Cony. The new universal."


	11. Planning

**A/N: **I know… I promised an update for yesterday at the latest, but I caught the flu (again!) on Friday, and I wasn't able to go into school, let alone type up a chapter! I swear, that must be the seventh or eighth time I've been sick since September; I don't know what's wrong with me this winter! Thanks as always to my reviewers:

**Sparkleglitz01: **Not quite, lol! Still need to merge Aisling's story into the main plot… And thank you for wishing me luck in my exams! They're going well so far, only eight to go!

**AussieGurl: **Thank you!

and **Angelmail: **

and my new reviewers, **Ms. Cullen: **Thank you for reminding me! I'll have to include him in a later chapter!

* * *

_**Planning**_

Aisling floated in and out of consciousness many times that night, not surfacing long enough to comprehend what was going on. She was jolted out of her fitful sleep abruptly by a sharp talon digging into her wrist. The black hawk gave an ear-splitting screech and leapt from her arm, circling above her. She rubbed her forehead confusedly, withdrawing her hand in disgust when it touched the congealing blood on her face.

Aisling twisted onto her back and pushed against the ground with her hands in an effort to get up, wincing as her leg moved. Giving up, she reached in her pocket for her phone, all the time being watched cautiously by the bird of prey. The hawk didn't even give her a chance to raise the phone to her ear, snatching it from her hand with its razor-sharp beak and causing her to gasp in pain as it sliced through her palm. She rubbed her eyes; was it glaring at her? She narrowed her eyes and slowly reached out for the bird, willing it silently to drop the phone. Quicker than lightning, the hawk grabbed her finger in its claw, and the memories came flooding back. She shrank back in terror from the shifting cloud of smoke, realizing the danger. The ebony centaur smiled cruelly.

"Now do you remember me, Universal?"

Nick was frozen to the spot, stunned by the sight inside the Chamber of Council. Looking around the room, he had no choice but to believe that it was true, the creatures were too real to believe otherwise. Sensing his discomfort, Windfoal touched him gently on the shoulder, sending him a wave of calmness.

"Connie, Nick, may we continue?" Kira asked quietly.

All present in the room closed their eyes. Nick stood there, bewildered by their actions, until he felt nine different presences touch his mind, inviting him to join the shared bond. Instinctively, he reached out to join the Trustees. He stared in amazement at the water lapping at his feet, and at the slight silver figure that rose up from it. Kinga was the first to break the silence.

"Nick, I know you understand very little of what's going on, but the important thing now is that we get your friend out of danger, and also that we make sure that you do not fall prey to him as well."

"How am I supposed to help if I don't even know what has Aisling?" he thought angrily, not realising that his thoughts were open to the others in the encounter until Stormbird answered his question, startling the other Trustees, who had seldom heard him speak aloud, voicing his opinion less often than even Morjik, who was a perfect example of his species of few words.

"As you already know, there are four main companies, which have both creatures and their companions. Then there is your company, which can encounter all creatures. However, there is one exception outside the five companies, a creature that we thought was unique, without a name to its species. This creature was the Society's greatest enemy, one whom we called Kullervo. He claimed to be the universal's companion, but thankfully our only universal at that time defeated him. This was three years ago, and it seems that as the Company of the Universals is reviving, so is this creature. We are unsure as yet whether it is the same one as Connie defeated resurfaced, or a new creature of the same race. But we do know that he or she is a danger to any untrained universal, and we fear that it or its followers may have captured a girl that we suspect has the same gift as you and Connie. I'm sure that you can guess who that girl is." Connie, who had been silent up to that point, chose the mentioning of her name as her cue to speak.

"I've been thinking, and I think I have an idea. But there's just one point that my plan rests on; how do you know that Aisling is a universal?"

"There was a red fox discovered at the scene of the attack by a frost wolf companion; your mother, Nick. From the information that we've gathered, a black creature originally in the form of a large wolf, we're guessing a frost wolf, but it shifted shape into a large bird-like creature that carried her away in its claws. If it was Kullervo or something like him, he wouldn't have attacked a normal companion on her own."

"Jade, would you be able to pick up her presence from memories like that?"

"I could, Universal, but only from a rock dwarf companion's mind."

"I have to break the encounter. Prepare yourselves!" Even with the advanced warning, Nick still felt as if he had mentally collapsed at the abrupt end to the encounter.

They recovered just in time to see Connie disappear around the corner, which was soon followed by a small but distinct splash.

Connie flew through the water at the speed of light; possibly faster, focusing her energies on locating a frost wolf companion in the vicinity. Her skills of tracking companions through their gift had intensified after her transformation, allowing her to detect Society members from miles away. Although it was not as accurate as the rock-dwarf's gift, it far outshone Mr. Coddrington's map in precision.

Searching for an open entrance to the house through the water system, but failing to find one closer than a stream bordering the house, she rose from the water , returning to her normal form once she broke contact. She rang the doorbell, and stepped back.

Natasha was the one to open the door, her face breaking into a smile at the sight of the universal.

"You must be Connie. The Trustees phoned a moment ago, I'll show you into the surgery." Once leaving her in the room, she left Connie scanning the enclosures. A flash of red fur caught her eye, and she reached in to lift the fox out of the cage. Rua's panicked look eased slightly at the universal's soothing touch, but her thoughts were still in unnerved confusion, reminding Connie of Argand's mind after her experience with a Latin book. Drawing on the past encounter, she managed to calm the small animal down enough to glean a basic knowledge of the event, including a presence that she recognized as similar to her own, if slightly more raw and untrained, reminding Connie of herself before she joined the Society. Concentrating on this presence, she stored it at the back of her capacious mind. Thanking Natasha for the information, she transported herself back to the headquarters, less than ten minutes after she had left the Chamber of Council. Jade was waiting for her by the fountain. Closing her eyes, Connie shared the memory. A look of steely resolve crossed the rock dwarf's face, a reminder that she was not as fragile as she appeared.

"I've found her."

**Another A/N: It's my birthday today! I'm officially three-twentieths of a century! And you know what I want the most for my birthday? Reviews…**

**-Darling Summers :D **


	12. Rescue

**A/N: **Sorry I took so long to update! I actually meant to post this chapter on Friday, but my little spaniel Lucky, whom any of my readers who've visited my profile should be familiar with, got hit by a car, and got a Grade Four spinal injury. He's been in intensive care for the last two days in a special clinic in Dublin, but thank God, the operation went well and we should be picking him up later today :) Thanks as always to my reviewers,

**Sparkleglitz01:** Thank you! By the way, the plot-tributaries are all coming to a confluence in this chapter!

**Angelmail: **Sorry, still no Col in this chapter! I promise that he'll appear again in the next chapter :)

and my new reviewer, **Hikarinozomi: **Thank you so much for reviewing and putting me on Favourites and Alerts!

* * *

_**Rescue**_

Connie matched Jade's swift pace as they left the Chamber of Council, after briefly informing the seven remaining Trustees of their plan. Through their bond, Connie was quickly filled in on the newest universal's whereabouts.

"Connie, do you think you can carry me? Our destination is a little isolated. We would stand a much better chance of rescuing her if we kept the element of surprise, which would be hard to keep if all of us came."

"I agree; a dragon, a unicorn and a storm-chaser aren't exactly inconspicuous." Re-entering the open courtyard, for a moment all that was visible of Connie was a wisp of silver smoke, as she considered her options. Any small bird was definitely out, but anything bigger than a large pegasus would be clearly visible in the approaching daylight. Reading her thoughts, Jade suggested,

"Maybe go with a small dragon for now, and we can fly above cloud. If needs be, you can always change." Connie's mind automatically jumped back to the only proof she had that Kullervo hadn't been completely evil, feeling a pang of guilt as she recalled their dance in mid-air. This time, she would try and convince the spirit, if there was one, to see the Society's way of thinking. Hiding these thoughts from Jade in her dragon form, she knelt down, allowing the rock dwarf to vault gracefully onto her back. However, throughout the journey, Connie was consumed with these thoughts, letting them leak from her mind as she landed with a soft thump on the marshy outskirts of the bog, following Jade's directions. Jade slid off, allowing Connie to revert to her natural form. Jade gently interrupted her train of thought, able to sense her feelings now that they were connected through the rocky ground.

"We will do the best we can to prevent that from happening again, but it is possible that these creatures are impossible to turn from the path that they have chosen. You know this much from experience." "But it could be something like the chimera! If Simon is able to calm a creature that crazily divided, then I might be able to do the same."

"That is very possible, Connie. But our first priority is rescuing Aisling. Hopefully we can carry out the rescue without any conflict, but if we need to, we have to stop that creature. By any means necessary."

"But don't you see, we're as bad as Kullervo was if we sink to that level and adopt his way of seeing things! I only did what I did because I had no choice, and even then, I gave him a chance! Wanting the extinction of any creature is completely against the Society's purpose!"

"This is different. You are young, universal, and were not around to see the destruction that this malevolent spirit's predecessor wreaked on mankind. If you had seen what I have seen, you would agree."

"But Eagle-Child-"

"Eagle-Child is young too. I guarantee you that any survivors of the Society's wars would agree that it's for the best that Kullervo and his kind are stamped out. You know this yourself, or you would not keep your powers such a secret." Connie ignored her last sentence, and threw herself into the air, reappearing in the shape of a cuckoo, shaped by her thoughts.

"A cuckoo; how apt." she thought bitterly, reflecting on how, in a way, she resembled the thieving bird, pushing Kullervo's being into the shadowy depths of her mind, causing him never to resurface, like an anecdote of the proverbial cuckoo, pushing the bird out of its nest.

Sensing a dark pulse of power, she chirped in alarm, wondering if her thoughts had awakened him, relaxing slightly as she noticed the subtle differences. Whatever creature she sensed was not as highly-trained as Kullervo, but she realized that it had the potential to be twice as devastating. The prospect filled her with dread, and her thoughts wavered. Maybe Jade was right.

Subtly reducing in size, she took the form of a silver-hued bumblebee. Buzzing softly, she flew closer to the source of the power. A black hawk circled above her, a black dragon twitched its tail lazily less than twenty metres away. Connie paid no heed to these two creatures, her attentions focused solely on the brown-haired girl with her head on her knees. Landing on a rocky outcrop on the surface of the soil, she reluctantly re-established her bond with her fellow Trustee.

"They're watching her too closely; we need a diversion so I can get near enough."

"You're better placed for that than I am; can you summon any marsh-dwellers to come to your aid?"

"I'll try." Closing her eyes, she felt for the presence of creatures more common, more familiar, presences slightly less concentrated than the creatures she knew to be in the vicinity. Awakening a swarm of bees, she called them to come to her aid. Before a second had passed, she saw them coming, miniscule black specks against the horizon. The black hawk croaked angrily as they built up into a thick band surrounding them. Connie laughed silently: she must have summoned every bee in the country! Her diversion worked; Connie was able to trespass unnoticed in the connection between the bird and dragon.

She shivered as she recognized the black dragon; Charok, one of Kullervo's most loyal allies. His hatred of the Society had only increased when Connie had convinced his mate, the white dragon Letherea to join them two years ago. Like many creatures, she had not truly trusted Kullervo, and had been pulled into his ranks against her will, at Charok's request. She had taken an immediate liking to Morjik, as she had been hatched only a few years after him, they shared many memories. Charok lifted his wings and took to the sky, leaving the girl behind him alone and unprotected. Connie flew over quietly. Waiting until they were a good distance away, she took the form of a dragon. Aisling's eyes were wide with fear.

"Aisling, I know this seems strange, but I'm here to rescue you."

"How do I know you're not on Kulevro's side?" she asked suspiciously.

"No time to explain, they'll be back as soon as they think they've chased the bees far enough away. Please, just trust me, and I promise I'll explain everything later. Hop onto my back." Aisling mounted the silver dragon cautiously, clinging on to her scales as she took off. Swooping down to retrieve Jade from the patch of bog-cotton she had been hiding in, she soared into the sky in triumph.


	13. Refuge

Thank you very much to my reviewer,

**Angelmail: **Flick back to Chapter Two for a Col chapter, just for you! Lucky is fairly aptly named, he's had several bog-related accidents, including a memorable fight with a gorse bush, but he always pulls through :),

and also to the three new Companions fanfic's two authors, **Miki-Onee-Chan** and **Argand**! Yay, I'm so exited! New CQ stories! Any other readers thinking of writing a fanfic for Companions Quartet, DO IT!!! Let's see if we can beat the Cat Royal archive in numbers! And if you need a beta, feel free to contact me; I'm officially a registered beta for CQ! Once again, yaaay! Anywho, on to Chapter Thirteen!

* * *

_**Refuge**_

Nick sat in the company of the creatures and companions that were the very essence of the Society, feeling very uncomfortable. Gathering his courage as the minutes of waiting ticked slowly by, he spoke his thoughts aloud.

"Why am I here? I haven't been able to do anything to help so far, and to be honest, it doesn't seem like there will be anything I can do anytime soon. I don't really see why I'm needed." A wave of calm swept over him as Windfoal answered his question.

"Nick, I know that you don't feel of much use now, but there are two main reasons why we need you to be here, as opposed to your home. The first, most immediate concern is that Aisling awakens to somebody she knows and trusts. Nobody in her family has a gift, so you're the only one capable of doing it. The second problem is that where you live is very exposed and isolated in Society terms. We know that the creature knows where you are, and it is also possible that he knows that you are a universal. You need to stay in England for time being, near the headquarters and the only Society member who can train you, at least until you are able to fend for yourself." Nick looked at the unicorn indignantly, fighting her soothing presence stubbornly.

"I'm well able to take care of myself!"

"You have no idea of what you're dealing with." Kinga reprimanded him.

"But what about school, and my family?"

"That's been dealt with already. Your mother has already started to organize the move; you'll be transferred to Chartmouth school, where there's a few Society members your own age." Nick began to open his mouth, trying to think of a valid complaint, but thought better of it and closed it. They sat in silence for a few minutes until a loud thump coming from the courtyard broke them from their still trances. Nick, forgetting the presence of the Trustees, who were looking on in amazement, dashed into the courtyard. He froze in horror at the sight of the pale, unmoving girl on the dragon's back. Lifting her gently down, he carried her into the foyer and laid her down on one of the leather couches.

"Come on, Aisling, wake up." he murmured forcefully. His words had no effect. Seeing no other option, Nick parted her lips gently and leant in towards her. His face was met by a forceful slap. Aisling's eyes were wide with shock, but a faint smile played on her lips.

"Good to see that you're back to normal again," he joked. "Now I know how Conor felt!" She bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you, but you can't exactly control your reflexes! Are you okay?" Nick rubbed the red mark thoughtfully.

"I think I'll live. What about you? What happened?" The smile disappeared abruptly from her face. Nick hastily tried to correct his mistake.

"If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine."

"I don't think that you'll believe most of it."

"After your entrance, I don't think anything will surprise me." Aisling painfully recounted the events of the past few days, tears springing to her eyes as she recollected what had happened to Rua. Nick took her hand as she tried to hold back her tears.

"Don't worry about Rua. She's actually in a better state than you are at the moment, my mum is taking good care of her. Apparently, we couldn't have found you without her help," he reassured. She smiled weakly and continued. At the closure of her tale, the Trustees emerged from the Chamber of Council, joined by Jade and Connie, now in her human form. She sat down beside the younger girl on the couch and turned to face her.

"Aisling, I'm Connie." Aisling looked at her in recognition.

"I thought you were a dragon!" Connie smiled at her deduction.

"That's right. I'm the Society's version of the shape-shifter that captured you, the good version, or so we like to think. I hate to ask you when you obviously need to rest and recover after what happened to you, but is there anything that you can tell us about the creature?"

"Not much. I saw him change shape twice; once from a wolf into a lion-bird thing, and from that into a hawk. And the creatures were always black. He had some sort of control over me, it was like… being sucked down a plug." She gave a short laugh, blushing slightly at her description.

"Is there anything else?"

"Not that I can think of. Oh, wait! His name was Kulevro-" Kinga interrupted her, earning her a glare from the other occupants of the room.

"Kulevro? Are you sure it wasn't Kullervo?"

"No, definitely not. That was his father's name." Kira gasped and leaned against Windfoal for support. Eagle-child grimaced, and Stormbird cawed angrily, sparks of light leaping from his wings. Even Morjik looked shaken by the news.

"If that is true, then the situation is a lot worse than we imagined. We need to take the same precautions that we took with Connie three years ago, and both of your training should start immediately. Connie, could you contact Sentinel?"

"I will. Gard too?" Kinga nodded.

"He isn't completely necessary as we have Jade to help us, but it might be a good idea to contact him anyway. We have kept you two a secret within your own chapter, just like George." Connie looked puzzled for a moment.

"Why does the Chartmouth Chapter know about them, then?"

"We've actually transferred them both to your chapter; best to keep all of the universals in one place." Connie laughed.

"Mr. Coddrington will be pleased!" Aisling and Nick exchanged glances. Sensing their confusion, Connie filled them in on the joke.

"Mr. Coddrington is the person who gave you a lift here." Nick struggled to think of words to describe him, trying to hold back his laughter.

"Oh. Well, he seems very…"

"Boring?" Connie finished for him. Nick grinned, relieved that he didn't have to hide his opinion of the less-than-interesting weather giant companion.

"Exactly." Kira looked amused.

"Maybe it's a universal thing, disliking him."

"Honestly, who does?"

"I'll choose not to answer that question, Connie. On to more pressing matters than Mr. Coddrington's tediousness; we need to find companions for our two new universals. I'm afraid we can't offer you anything as unique as a golden dragon, but we'll do our best. The important thing is that you have a companion to act as a counterweight against Kulevro's pull. Nick, Aisling, are you okay with that?" Nick nodded his affirmation, but not a sound came from Aisling. Nick poked her in the arm, and when she didn't react, brushed the hair falling in front of her face to the side. She had fallen asleep.


	14. Alone

**A/N: **Wow! Five reviews in the space of 24 hours; I love you guys! Thank you so much to my reviewers:

**Angelmail: **Your reviews made me bounce around the room with happiness; Lucky gave me a very concerned look! I can't wait until you get an account; I promise I'll review every story you write! And if you need a beta, you know who to call, lol!

**Sparkleglitz01: **I was really happy to get your review; I missed them!

**TheNamesKeepChanging: **Thank you very much :D

**Lollipopz104: **Another reviewer returns! It's nice to know that I have support from my reviewers; as long as I know people are enjoying this, I'll make time for it!

Everyone, please forgive me for my total lack of knowledge of sport in the chapter ahead :D

* * *

_**Football**_

Rat waved his arms wildly in the air, indicating that he was open to take the ball. Seeing no other option, Col kicked the football in his direction. Rat swung out his leg uncontrollably, and promptly fell over the ball, landing face-first on the grassy football pitch. The coach blew the whistle to signal a time-out in the practice match, and the team gathered curiously around the fallen player. Rat's face emerged from the ground, covered in mud. He coughed violently and spat out a piece of grass, and their interest faded away, walking back to their positions. Picking himself up cheerfully, Rat voluntarily started to make his way to the bench at the sidelines, where he sat down and began to pick the individual blades of grass from his jersey. The coach walked over to Col.

"I don't really want to take anybody out of the match, but you're the only one on the team that doesn't need the practice, and the team numbers have to be even. Could you take Rat to the office to get him cleaned up? There's not much point in coming back, because there's only fifteen minutes left, so take in a few of the cones with you."

Rat happily left the pitch as soon as permission was given, walking with a slight limp until they were out of sight, where he immediately relaxed into his usual gait. Col gave him a sceptical look. Rat grinned, acknowledging his friend's recognition of his fraud.

"Honestly, I have no idea why I let you talk me into joining the team. Give me a camán and sliotar any day!" As they walked through the doors, Col felt something, or more aptly, someone, tug at the corner of his mind. He immediately granted Connie access.

"Col, do you think you and Rat could get off training early? There's another new member one or two years younger than us; Dr. Brock wants us to help him to settle in."

"Well, Rat's already taken care of practice. Where are you?"

"The three of us are waiting outside reception." Col saw red; he hoped that Connie didn't mean what he thought she did. When he saw the figure, standing beside her, his eyes narrowed. His expression smoothened when he noticed how uncomfortable Connie looked at Michael's close proximity. Col walked over to stand between them, putting his arm around Connie's shoulder. She looked at him gratefully.

"Good to see you could make it out." Michael, to Col's satisfaction, was not looking pleased. "Col, Rat, this is Nick. Nick, these are two more Society members, Col and Rat." It was then that they noticed the third person in the small group, tentatively leaning against the wall. He raised a hand in greeting, and the five teenagers began to walk away from the school. Rat was, as always, the first to speak.

"Hey, you have weird eyes too, just like Col and Connie! So, what's your companion species?" Nick glanced at Connie for support.

"Um… I'm not sure. I don't have a companion like those Trustees did." Col looked at Connie, not needing to hold a mental conversation to convey his suspicions, which Connie immediately confirmed.

"He's a universal, like me." Michael's smile came right back at this statement.

"Wow, so we have three universals in our chapter now! Wait until I tell my Society friends back home!"

Connie corrected him.

"Actually, we're keeping it as low-key as possible at the moment, so it wouldn't be the best idea to tell anyone outside the chapter." Michael looked suitably subdued, and Col laughed silently. He completely agreed with Argand on the question of Michael, albeit for different reasons. He turned his attention to the girl walking beside him. Connie was studying Rat's face carefully, tilting her head to one side.

"Hold on, Rat, what happened to your face?" Rat rubbed his brow in bewilderment, a look of recognition crossing his face as he looked at his now mud-splattered hand.

"Fell over a football." Ignoring Connie's attempts to conceal her laughter, he continued.

"Well, it's not my fault that they don't have any games that I'm good at in the school. I really don't get football; what's the point of just kicking a ball that you can't even pick up?" Col smacked his forehead, exasperated.

"Rat, in what world would you pick up a football? Hence the name, FOOTball!" Rat looked very offended.

"Actually, in Ireland, you would! Gaelic football is way better than so-called normal football."

"Is that the camán and sliotar thing you were talking about?" Nick broke into the conversation.

"Actually, that's hurling." Rat looked delighted.

"Finally, somebody who's heard of Irish sports! Are you Irish yourself?"

"No, but Ais- I mean, I didn't spend much time there." He fell silent, and even Rat knew not to press the subject. Connie felt a pang of sympathy. She shared the memories of the past few days with Col, knowing better than to speak the memories aloud. Col empathised silently with Nick; he had been through the same thing with Connie around six years ago, after her first meeting with a shape-shifter, albeit in a less serious situation. Connie had gone through a lot back then, but she had known about the Society, and of course, Kullervo. He could see why Aisling was not as resilient to the situation, knowing nothing about mythical creatures beforehand.

Waiting until Michael and Rat had split from the group as their houses beside the wind turbines were passed, Connie spoke softly to Nick, quiet pity emanating from her voice.

"I'm going to go visit her this evening, to see if I can do anything to help. Do you want to come?" He nodded his head mutely, and opened the gate to his house, directly beside Rat's house. Wolf whined and Nick leant over the wall to scratch behind the Alsatian's ears.

"Poor Nick," Connie sighed. Col took her hand as they turned towards the Masterson's farm, in an unspoken agreement to leave their worries about the two newest universals on the ground behind them, even if only for a few minutes.

"I know. It can't be easy being completely uprooted like that. And with Aisling still in the hospital on top of that, it's probably pretty tough on him."

**Another A/N: Point of interest; I need help from my reviewers in choosing Aisling's companion! It will come up in the next few chapters, so has anybody any ideas?**


	15. Explanations

A/N: Wow! Fifty reviews! Thank you so, so much! Especially to my reviewers:

**Angelmail: **Lol, a community is like a story archive, and a beta reader is like an editor :) That's so cool, you do ballet? Me too! Good luck with your shows, I'm sure you'll be brilliant! Chapter Four will definitely be up on Wednesday at about 5 pm Irish time. And I am writing a second story for CQ, first chapter should be up next week. It's called "Randomness with Rat"… oh, the fun I shall have… I have to watch that movie now that you've told me that! Taylor Swift is my favorite singer, thank you so much for telling me! Lol, that's probably the longest review reply I've ever written!

**Sparkleglitz01: **Lol, yes, I enjoyed writing that!

**Companionsquartet4evax: **As you can see above, there'll be something new next week! Thank you very much for your suggestions, I'll probably use one of them! One I can't use; but you'll find out more on that later on!

**Ms. Cullen: **Very sorry for confusing you! She is a universal, and the question I asked at the end of the chapter is sort of in a similar way to Connie and Argand.

**Hikarinozomi: **Lol, I'll try to have more regular updates from now on, twice a week if I can.

**Lollipopz104: **I'll try not to disappoint :) There will be a little in this chapter!

* * *

**Explanations**

Connie was true to her word; later that evening, both universals were sitting in the visitor's waiting room, waiting to enter the private ward. It was the same hospital that Connie had been taken to after the chimera attack. The nurse at the desk smiled and finally motioned towards the door. Nick walked softly in, ahead of Connie. Aisling was lying on the bed, her hair spread out on the pillow behind her. Her arm was outstretched on the bedspread, a drip attached to the inside of her elbow. and wires disappeared under the covers. Nick showed no sign of shock; he had not gone to school but stayed the whole day in the chair by her side, persuaded by Connie to get some fresh air and meet others from the Society. He sat in the chair beside her and began to stroke her hair sadly. Connie gasped as her fingers gave a barely-discernible twitch.

"Nick!" she said urgently. "Her hand just moved!" Nick swiftly turned his head.

"I don't think so. Maybe it was just a trick of the light." Connie felt her heart sink; it was possible. They sat in silence for a few moments.

"I'm sure she'll be okay. She seemed very strong, from what I saw." Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Another of my abilities; I can do something a little more advanced than an encounter. With great concentration, I can establish a bond without the creature or human noticing." Connie smiled gently.

"I've seen your mind as well; I know how you feel about her. You should tell her." His face flushed a bright red. Frantically searching for a topic to change the subject, he spoke the first question that came to mind.

"How can you do all the… extra things, when we both supposedly have the same gift?" Connie sighed; she had guessed that the question would come eventually. She had talked it over with Col and Skylark when they were flying at the Masterson's, and she had decided to let him in on the secret, and tell him the truth.

"I suppose I should tell you about how I came to be this way. Do you remember what the other Trustees told you about Kullervo?" Nick nodded, but felt confused. How did that have anything to do with it?

"I was the only universal at the time, and Kullervo was my greatest enemy. My first encounter with him was, in some ways, very similar to Aisling's experience, but with two major differences. The first was that I had already known of his existence, and I knew what I was. My theory is that that's the reason why Aisling reacted worse to the situation than I did. Then there was the fact that he managed to hide her from us for three days, in comparison to the few minutes that he had held me captive. The thing that reminded me the most of my first encounter with Kullervo was that little red fox, Rua. I also had a friend willing to give a life for me, but-" She broke off, tears in her eyes. It still hurt to think of the brave seagull who had died to save her. Noticing Nick's concerned expression, she brushed them away and continued.

"I spent three years fighting that creature, who had killed my first friend in Hescombe, not realising that I had been going about it completely wrong. When I was a year younger than you are now, I was convinced that I had to duel him to defeat them, an idea that I had picked up from one of the books in the universal's reading room. When I had no other way out but to challenge him, I completely changed tactics. It might be a little difficult for you to understand- you haven't had your first encounter yet, have you?- but I had to give in to his presence to defeat him. The shape-shifter was forced into two options that I'm sure he would rather die than accept. The first was to accept humans as a part of this world. The second was to become a part of me."

Nick had not heard the last two sentences. His ears had stopped working after "shape-shifter". He stood up rapidly, almost knocking over the chair that he pushed behind him, as he pointed with a trembling finger accusingly at Connie.

"Something like you did this to Aisling!" he breathed. She hurriedly corrected him.

"Something like Kullervo did. His presence seems to have disappeared, leaving me with only his powers. I have no idea if he's a part of me any more. I promise, you don't need to be scared of me. Our problem is the creature that's still out there." Nick didn't look completely reassured, but took his seat again.

"How are you going to defeat him this time?""I'm not. You are." Nick gaped, his mouth hung open.

"Well, either you, Aisling or George will have to defeat him. I've talked it over with Jade; if I repeated what I did, Kulevro could help his father to overthrow me, taking over me completely. The only way that we can be remotely sure of the results is if one of the new universals defeat him in the same way that I defeated his predecessor. I'll be mentoring the three of you, so that you will all be able to defeat him if the occasion arises. We could try the shield now, if you'd like."

"Well, I guess there's nothing to lose. How does it work?"

"Form a shield with your mind, and try to block me out. It would be easier if I took a different shape, but I'm not taking any chances on the question of security cameras. Close your eyes and concentrate on keeping the shield held up."

Nick closed his eyes obediently. Connie's eyes were already shut tightly, her focus evident on her face. Neither of them saw Aisling's eyelids beginning to flicker faintly.


	16. Recovery

A/N: **Thank you very much to my reviewers:**

**Angelmail:** Very evil, lol! Your idea is in a poll on my profile as to what will happen next to Omar :)

**Air Gemini Star** (previously **Hikarinozomi**): Your reviews and PM's were much appreciated :D

**Sparkleglitz01**: As you can see in this chapter, she's okay :)

**Argand:** Penguins are the best, aren't they!

* * *

**_Recovery_**

Aisling awoke to the sharp smell of hospital disinfectant. Wrinkling her nose in distaste, she tried to prop herself up on her pillows. All that she managed to do was make her hand move the tiniest fraction. She felt the soft touch of her hair being gently stroked, and the distant murmur of voices echoed in her ear. She strained to listen to the conversation.

"Her hand just moved!" She recognized the voice, but she couldn't think where she had heard it before. A second voice spoke.

"I don't think so. Maybe it was just a trick of the light." The second voice was Nick; she was sure of it. But what was he doing here?

Trying to drag her memories of what had happened before everything had blacked out for the second time proved as difficult as trying to push the proverbial camel through the eye of a needle. The voices continued to burble in the background as she tried to dredge up the memories, changing dynamics as the conversation progressed. At one point they faded out altogether, and Aisling abandoned the thoughts that she had been sifting through in panic. After a couple of seconds, however, the talking resumed. She was unable to distinguish the individual words, but she heard her name mentioned once or twice.

The voices ceased naturally, and she could feel that the atmosphere in the room had changed. With great effort, she opened her eyes. Two people were sitting in the chairs beside the bed that she was lying in, their eyes closed and looks of intense concentration on their faces. One of them was Nick; she had been right. She did not recognize the girl beside him. Turning her attention to her arm, which felt slightly numb but was prickling uncomfortably, she turned away in horror, feeling faint. There was a canula attached to her inner elbow. She laughed slightly at herself; out of all the things that she could be afraid of, she had to have a phobia of needles.

She did not feel as though she had enough energy left to speak, so resorted to watching the changing expressions on Nick's face. His face looked pained for a moment, as if he was struggling with something, and suddenly went blank. Both of them opened their eyes. They did not seem to realise that Aisling was now conscious, and the girl laughed.

"Not that easy, is it? You did really well for your first time, though. I didn't expect you to keep it up that long."

"How do you keep it steady? It just disappeared!"

"You have to keep focused. It's hard to hold it up if your attentions are somewhere else." It was then that they both looked in her direction. Nick was the first to react.

"Aisling, you're okay!" He threw his arms around her neck in relief. She winced, and he immediately took a step back, looking embarrassed.

"Sorry. Are you okay, though?" She found the energy to push the pillows further behind her, allowing her to sit up. She checked her hands and arms for any scrapes or bruises

"I think so. I can't really remember what happened. Where am I?" Nick and the girl exchanged looks.

"You can't remember anything at all?" the girl pressed. Aisling shook her head slightly.

"Nothing. Not meaning to seem rude, but who are you?"

"I'm Connie."

"You still haven't exactly told me what happened."

Connie was unable to answer, as a doctor carrying a clipboard walked in at that moment.

"Aisling, isn't it? Glad to see that you're feeling better. I just need to check your pulse and heartbeat." The doctor hung the clipboard at the end of the bed, and strapped a black piece of material connected to a machine with flashing numbers around her wrist, which began to tighten around her arm. She looked at it curiously, but was more interested in hearing about what had happened prior to waking up. Maybe she'd get more information by talking to the doctor than to Connie.

The machine gave a high-pitched beep and the pressure on her wrist began to decrease. The doctor looked at the machine and smiled. She had a kind face framed by shoulder-length blonde hair.

"That's good, your blood pressure seems to be returning to normal. I just need to check your heartbeat."

As the doctor listened through the stethoscope, Aisling took her chance.

"What happened to me?" Removing the stethoscope and placing it on the trolley, she adjusted her glasses.

"You've been in a coma, or so we thought, since early yesterday morning. We're revising that now, because you seem to have made a miraculous recovery." Aisling counted back the days in her head.

"So… it's only Monday?" She sounded confused, even to herself.

"Actually, it's Thursday. You seem to have a slight case of post-traumatic amnesia. Were you in any accidents, that you are aware of?" Aisling tilted her head to one side.

"I don't think so." The doctor picked up the clipboard and began to write on it.

"Well, besides that minor issue, you don't seem to have been affected too badly. I'd say that we'll be able to send you home very soon." As she left the room, Aisling twisted slightly to look at Connie and Nick.

"Aisling, do you remember anything… strange from the last few days?" Aisling was beginning to get impatient with the same question being repeated over and over again.

"How can I remember anything strange? As I've already said, I can't remember anything at all!" she snapped. Connie did not seem upset by her sudden burst of anger, and her eyes showed empathy.

"Does the name Kulevro mean anything to you? Or a silver dragon?" Blurry images passed before her eyes.

"I think so; I'm not sure." she replied truthfully.

"You deserve a lot of explanations, and you will get them. But I'm not sure if now is the best time to tell you." Connie looked pointedly at her arm. Aisling laughed; she could see herself becoming friends with Connie, a complete opposite to Megan.

"I think I'm up for it."


	17. Discharged

_**A/N: **_Sorry I took so long! My sister went into hospital last week and I've been completely overwhelmed with schoolwork. Thank you to my reviewers:

_**Angelmail: **_I really want to answer your questions, but I can't because it would give away the plot to the other readers, lol! You are very observant :)

_**Sparkleglitz01: **_Yep! I would like to say that I had that planned from the beginning, but strict planning just isn't my thing :) Hooray for improvisation and vague planning!

_**Companionsquartet4evax: **_No worries, I'm still alive, lol! You can call off that search party now! And no, that medical term was completely invented, lol!

_**Air Gemini Star: **_I sent you it in a PM; has it arrived yet? Looking forward to reading your stories!

Nothing really happens in this chapter… It's more of a filler for what happens next.

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_**Discharged**_

Connie smiled, admiring Aisling's strength of mind and eagerness to recover her memories. A few wisps of brown hair were beginning to float towards the ceiling, picking up on the static in the room and reminding Connie of her own previous encounters. However, she was concerned that too much strain through an encounter as strong as this might do a lot more harm than good, especially if her unconscious mind did not want to divulge its secrets.

"Are you sure that you're ready? It might be a good idea to wait until you're out of hospital, and completely recovered." Connie had a second reason for waiting as well, but did not share it. She had realized that it was possible that Kulevro could have left his mark on Aisling's mind. She remembered well how she had had to force back the dangers in her mind, and that was after she had been trained for over two years. Without the proper precautions taken, there could be a repeat of the tsunami that Connie had almost unleashed on Hescombe, or something equally as disastrous. Aisling looked determined to find out what had happened, and opened her mouth to disagree. Interrupting her, the doctor who had taken Aisling's pulse opened the door, an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm very sorry, but we're going to have to move you to one of the main wards. An emergency case has come in, and we need all the beds that we can get." Connie was surprised at Aisling's response.

"Actually, I think that I'm able to go home now, if that's okay." The doctor looked torn between freeing up another bed and keeping her patient in intensive care. A young boy was carried into the room on a stretcher. All three looked in shock at the burn marks marring his face, his features contorted in pain. Comparing the two, the doctor made her decision.

"I need to take out the canula before you go," she stated, and disconnected the wires surrounding her.

"Could you two head down to reception, please?" Connie noticed Aisling's look of dismay at the oversized hospital nightgown that she was wearing, and pointed towards the bag left beside the bed.

"There's a change of clothes in there, if you need them. I'd say that we're around the same size." Aisling smiled gratefully and climbed out of the bed, feeling a little disorientated as she put her feet on the ground. The stretcher carrying the little boy was put in her place, and she watched as the doctors busied themselves around him. She internally winced as she saw the burns being treated. Whatever had caused that had obviously been very painful. One of the doctors gestured towards the bathroom, and she picked up the bag that Connie had left there.

The three walked out of the hospital into the car park ten minutes later. Aisling felt a little dazed.

"Are you sure that we were allowed to just do that? Just walk out of the hospital without signing anything, or even paying?"

"The Trustees have taken care of everything." Connie reassured. Pulling a mobile out of her pocket, she dialled her aunt's number.

"Evelyn? Would you mind picking us up from the hospital? Actually, Aisling's been discharged." The volume of her voice dropped, and Aisling strained to listen, feeling sure that it was about her.

"She can't remember anything that happened. I'll tell you more later." Her voice returned to its normal volume.

"Would you be able to phone the Trustees and tell them? Okay, I'll see you in a few minutes, then." Connie closed the phone and looked at the two teenagers in front of her. Nick was standing beside Aisling, his arm around her to support her. To anybody else, they would have looked like a couple. She guessed that Nick had realised this, gauging his reaction from the smile on his face. She almost laughed at Aisling's expression, blissfully unaware of how they looked. She was at present taking in her surroundings, gazing curiously at the hospital behind her.

"Where exactly are we? I'm pretty sure that this isn't Dublin." Nick shrugged and looked to Connie.

"We're in a place called Chartmouth, actually. It's on the coast of England." Aisling's eyes widened.

"Well, what am I doing here?" Evelyn's Citroen pulled into the car park, and Connie turned her head to answer.

"Like I said, I'll explain anything later." Aisling was beginning to look annoyed again. Regardless, she followed Connie and Nick into the car. Evelyn turned around in the seat and smiled at the group in the back. George threw his teddy in their direction happily, and waved at them, making Aisling smile.

"Good to see that you're feeling better, Aisling. I've called the Trustees like you asked, Connie. Do you want a lift to the headquarters?" Connie shook her head.

"I might need to contact the Trustees again. I think that there might be a better place for us to carry this out."

_**A/N arís!: Beannachtaí Lá Fhéile Pádraig oraibh! Sa honór as an lá, chuir do luch ar an butún glas gleoite beag…**_

_**Translation: Happy Saint Patrick's Day! In honour of the day, put your mouse on that cute little green button!**_


	18. Introductions

**A/N: **Disaster! We're switching to a new internet package, and we can only use the internet on weekends! To make up for it, I'll try to update twice during the weekend; you can definitely count on at least one chapter :) Sorry I kept you waiting on this; I've had it ready since last Friday! And while you wait for my intermittent updates, go read **"Confessions" **by** Angelmail**. I know that I'm enjoying it! And of course, as always, thanks to my reviewers:

**Air Gemini Star: **Sorry it took so long! This chapter is longer than the last.

**Companionsquartet4evax: **Wow, never knew you were Irish! I hope you write something soon!

**Sparkleglitz01: **I thought that it was fitting :) Ciara was discharged the same day, she was touched that you and Angelmail were asking about her!

**Angelmail: **What can I say? Your story is absolutely amazing, I'm so glad that you've added to the CQ archive! Speaking of which, I must remember to send you a staff invitation!

**365 Pages of Awesomeness: **Thank you very much for agreeing to beta my story! I thought that it was unfair to make everybody wait even longer, so Ch. 19 will be sent your way as soon as it's finished :)

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**Paranoia**

Aisling gazed out the window as the car flew past the scenic countryside. Connie pulled a phone from her pocket and began to punch in a combination of buttons, but was interrupted by the lilting melody that had been played by the Sea Snakes at Connie's first visit to Tintagel. She pressed the answer button in relief, and began to speak to the person at the other end of the line.

"Hi, Kira. I was just about to call. Could you come down to Hescombe instead? Wait, you're already here?" The colour fell rapidly from her face.

"We'll see you at the mines in around two minutes." Evelyn took one look at her niece, and immediately pulled over.

"Connie, what's happened?" she asked.

"There's been a fire. We think that Ku… he had something to do with it. That must have been the emergency that the doctor mentioned. We need to get to the mines; Morjik and Windfoal have taken cover there." Evelyn was now as pale as Connie. She spun the steering wheel, earning an admiring applause from George, and turned back on to the road with a screech. Houses were beginning to dot the sides of the road; a series of silver wind turbines were rotating at the top of a hill like a graveyard for helicopter parts. Two boys were walking along the line of houses, and Evelyn pulled over to intercept them.

"Hop in," Connie told them urgently. "We're heading down to the mines." One of the boys managed to squash into the back seat with the three already there, and the second went around to the front of the car, placing George on his knees.

"How's my favourite little half-brother," he cooed. George squirmed and gave him a sunny gap-toothed grin. The boy on the other side of Connie looked at Aisling curiously.

"Who's she?" he asked, obviously not one for feigning politeness, much to Connie's chagrin. "Is she one of us?" Connie glared at him.

"Rat, are you ever going to learn some manners?"

"Course not," replied Rat cheerfully. "Who needs manners when you've got Ice-" Connie once again cut him off. "Hypocrite," he mumbled. Nick laughed, appearing to be well used to the other boy's unusual, to say the least, personality.

"Aisling, this is Rat, and that's Col sitting in the front. Col, Rat, this is Aisling Hollingsworth." Both boys looked at her in disbelief. Aisling noticed with a jolt that both Col and Connie had the same eyes as herself and Nick , but she did not think that it was the best time to point it out, as the car skidded to a halt beside what resembled a disused quarry. A light was flickering at the entrance of one of the caves, casting distorted shadows on the walls. Aisling shivered with anticipation for the unknown, drawing the jacket that Connie had loaned her around herself tightly as they entered the cave.

"We're here," Connie called into the darkness, her words echoing around the cavern. A deep, rumbling voice that could have been an echo itself replied.

"Universal, you are here. I sense others with you. Shall I come out to fetch you, or would you prefer to make your own way in?" Aisling's eyes widened with fright; she had not expected anything like this.

"Stay where you are for the moment, Sentinel. I know my way almost as well as you do around these caves." Before setting off into the darkness, leading their expedition of five, Connie turned to Aisling, as if she had sensed her fear.

"You might be a little bit… shocked by what you see here. But don't worry; they are all friends." Aisling was not entirely comforted by this statement, but followed regardless. Realizing that Aisling would be completely overwhelmed by the six powerful creatures ahead of them, Connie silently entered her mind in a benign invasion, to offer protection with her helm. The silver waters carefully crept across the threshold of her defences, flowing cautiously so as to not awaken any uninvited presence that might be lurking in her mind. The surface the water had been creeping along suddenly disappeared, and Connie allowed herself to be expelled from her mind without putting up any resistance. She frowned. That had never happened to her before. She would not risk entering again, in case Aisling had no part in the dispelling of Connie's presence. She would have to tread even more carefully from now on. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure that the group was still following her, she stopped abruptly, causing Rat to trip over her foot.

"We should keep hold of one another; it's getting too dark to follow on sight. Everyone, join hands." Nick hesitantly outstretched his hand to Aisling, and she took it gladly, comforted that there was at least one person present that she had known before all of this had happened. Col had already taken Connie's hand, and Rat was grumbling as he brushed the dirt from his jeans.

"I'm not holding Col's hand. Icefen is somewhere around here; he was helping Sentinel with a flooding problem earlier. He can bring me instead." Connie glared at him, and he joined the end of the human chain with a dramatic sigh. Connie laughed inwardly; she would never admit it, but her powers certainly proved useful in keeping Rat under control.

After walking for a few minutes, the passage began to shrink, and they broke apart, seeing a dim light building in the distance. Aisling's doubts had suddenly disappeared; there was something strange there, but she wanted to know what it was. She moved forwards, entranced. The senses began to overload her mind, and she felt dizzy once again, placing her hand against the wall. The conflicting emotions were battling for dominance, but she knew that none of them were hers. Closing her eyes tightly shut and letting her thoughts go blank, she once again regained control over her own mind. She was the last to step into the gigantic cavern. She rubbed her eyes in amazement, wondering if she was dreaming. Connie did not need to warn her about what she would see; she finally felt as if she belonged, standing there in the room with all these amazing creatures. She instinctively gravitated to the centre of the room, joining Connie and Nick. An intricate compass was engraved on the floor, with each needle of the compass pointing toward creatures that were the stuff of dreams. A vivid green dragon lay curled at the south-facing wall, with eyes like smouldering emeralds and a wrinkled hide as gnarled as an old tree bark, its large size accommodated by the cavern. Directly facing her, to the east, a gigantic bird taller than the man standing beside it perched on a stalagmite, its glossy black feathers crackling with energy.

The cloaked figures standing either side of an elderly Chinese man were more difficult to identify. They pulled back their hoods and she gasped in amazement. Although they were similar in a way, rock-hewn statues brought to life, the two creatures looked like complete opposites. The first was carved entirely from living black granite, with his human features distorted by crags in the stone. The second was carved in more fluid, graceful lines. Her willowy figure was shrouded in the sapphire-encrusted cloak, a contrast to the smooth green rock that composed her features.

She turned around curiously to see what lay at the west of the room, and was startled when she saw the half-man, half-bull standing there. A unicorn was to its left, a single horn emerging from its shimmering silver mane. An African woman wearing a vibrant purple kikoi had her arm draped around the unicorn's powerful shoulders.

A voice spoke from behind her, and a woman previously hidden by the dragon's immense size stepped forward.

"Everyone ready?" she called. "Let's begin."

**Another A/N: Almost forgot; I've posted a new songfic based around the end of Chimera's Curse. Take a look and let me know what you think!**


	19. Expulsions

**A/N: **Sorry I took so long! It was practical week for Junior Cert in Science and Music, and on top of that, I had a ballet exam this Friday! I managed to write up this chapter in between homework and practice :) The poll on my profile is now closed, and it was a draw, annoyingly enough. I've picked a certain number, and whoever leaves the review matching that number gets to pick what happens with Omar! So, review! Thanks to

**Angelmail:** Thank you! You'd better keep writing as well, lol!

**Dustin(aka DustyG): **Sorry I took a day longer than anticipated :) I expected this chapter to be shorter! And your story is brilliant!

**Companionsquartet4evax: **I can't believe you didn't tell me who you were, lol! I probably wouldn't have guessed anyway!

**Sparkleglitz01: **Thank you! I love interpreting Rat's character, lol!

**365 Pages of Awesomeness: **Thank you :) I think that we need to set up the DocX thing so you can beta the chapters, lol!

**Air Gemini Star: **Lol, your review made me laugh! This chapter is usual length :)

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* * *

_**Precautions**_

Aisling watched on curiously as everybody closed their eyes, sensing each presence flicker and dim like a weak candle. The energy levels in the room went down along with it; they had taken their consciousness elsewhere. Noticing that Aisling was not present in the encounter, Nick severed his link with Connie. He tapped her gently on the shoulder.

"Aisling, you need to close your eyes. Trust me; nothing bad will happen." He gave her a reassuring smile, before closing his own eyes again. Unsure of whether or not he was telling the truth, her eyelashes flickered, hesitating. Something tugged at her consciousness, and she lost her balance, startled. Regaining steadiness, she allowed the presence to enter her mind. A shadow of herself coughed and spat out a mouthful of water. She stood up cautiously, and surveyed the landscape surrounding her. Flickering shapes danced on the horizon, reflected on the knee-deep silver water that she was standing in. Small islands dotted the silver ocean, the land clearly visible, a contrast to the almost painful brightness surrounding her. She blinked and rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

The water directly in front of her began to rise slowly, being pulled and twisted against gravity. Two arms gracefully flowed out to the side, and a silver head rose, completing the figure. Aisling was unable to move, completely rooted to the spot. Connie began to doubt the wisdom of involving her in such a powerful encounter so soon. Her eyes were growing wide with panic. The waters underneath her feet were beginning to take on a midnight blue sheen, and were thrashing around her in wild waves, despite Connie's attempts to control them. A dark drop of mist, so miniscule that it could barely be noticed, fell from Aisling's fingertip.

Connie, realizing what was happening, ejected the group from her minds. Aisling was lying on the floor, but seemed unharmed. Connie breathed out a sigh of relief. She had not been too late. Aisling lifted her head from the ground and opened her eyes, traces of fear still visible in her eyes, sparkling like shattered glass. Rat, who was also lying on the floor, groaned in protest.

"Connie, you really need to stop making a habit of doing that. Do you have any idea of what it does to our heads?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that it could have done too much damage in your head, Rat. There wasn't much in there to begin with." Rat gave Col a dirty look, and was about to retaliate, but Kira intercepted the argument.

"Connie, I never thought I would say this, but I agree with Rat. Was that really necessary?" she asked, rubbing her head and leaning against her companion. Connie sighed.

"I'm afraid it was. Did anybody else notice what was happening?" Everyone shook their heads in chorus.

"I think Kulevro has already managed to pass Aisling's defences. We can't run the risk of a joined encounter again. I think… I think that his presence in Aisling is making Kullervo's presence in me resurface." she finished quickly, biting her lip in worry. Col entered the centre of the room, throwing the balance in the room, and put an arm around Connie's shoulders. She turned her face towards him gladly, taking strength and comfort from his reassuring hug. An outraged gasp from the corner of the room ruined the moment. Mr. Coddrington stepped out from the shadows.

"You see! I told you that she should have been thrown out of the Society! She's been influenced by Kullervo, and for all we know, she could have been the one who brought about Kulevro's rise to power. It's too late to simply expel her from the Society; we need to take actions to make sure that she can never harm anyone else again!" Mr. Chan stepped forward, an uncharacteristically steely look in his Oriental eyes.

"Mr. Coddrington, you should be the one expelled from the Society for that outburst. We have known about this ever since Connie defeated Kullervo, and as Trustees ourselves, we ought to know if she is lying to us about being under Kullervo's sway." Mr. Coddrington refused to give up.

"I was a Trustee myself before you; I would know too!" Mr. Chan drew himself up to his full height, and looked down with disgust at the small man. Mr. Coddrington visibly flinched.

"I'm sure you would. Because you and your companion did such a great job at preventing that tsunami when Connie was actually under Kullervo's power," he retorted scathingly. Mr. Coddrington stepped back hastily, suitably subdued; the conversation was obviously over. Mr. Chan's mild countenance once again reappeared on his face.

"I am very sorry about that, Connie. Please continue." Connie looked slightly more cheerful after Mr. Coddrington was put into his place. She turned her attention to Aisling, still holding Col's hand for support.

"Aisling, do you think that you could try hosting the shared bond?" Aisling nodded hesitantly.

"I'll try." She closed her eyes as she had seen Connie do, and reached out towards the presences in the room. A gigantic wolf with Rat clinging to its back was the first to burst into her mind, closely followed by the rest of the Trustees, Nick and the second rock dwarf. The half-blinded minotaur was the last to enter, the only solitary creature in a group of twos, besides Aisling herself. The shadow of his voice echoed through her thoughts.

"I will also try. I have entered only one universal's mind before. I do not know whether this will be a similar experience, so we should tread carefully." With this warning, he set off down a tunnel in her mind, expecting the others to follow him. He paused at a fork in the tunnel.

"Universal, which way should we go?" Aisling was as unsure as he was, as she did not know where they were trying to go. With some effort, she sealed off the entrance to one of the tunnels.

The procession of creatures traipsing through her mind was suddenly brought to a halt. They stared at the walls around them in confusement. It was built of thousands of tiny screens, projecting Aisling's every memory for them to view. A section of one wall was closed off, shut behind a sheet of metal, like a safe in a bank. Rat curiously reached out for the handle, and it burst open. The screens behind it grew larger, fast-forwarding through the events of the past few days. Aisling watched on in panic, each memory being fired painfully into her head. When it got to the final memory of Nick leaning in towards her, she forced the door shut and waves of anger flowed through the walls, sending the group spiralling down the tunnel. The waves only subsided when they were back at the original fork in the tunnel. Icefen shook the frozen water from his fur, and Rat climbed back onto his companion, seeming unconcerned that he had caused the events of the last five seconds. As punishment, Aisling conjured a large bucket above his head and doused the pair with water. Rat grinned.

"I probably deserved that." Sentinel chuckled at his words, recalling Connie's methods of getting back at Mr. Coddrington.

"Not many would have taken that the same way as you did." He directed his next words towards Aisling.

"Universal, would you mind opening up the right tunnel for us?" Gathering the water that she had used, she sent it snaking towards the door. It rose to completely cover the door, and without warning, it splashed to the ground. With a hissing noise, the door disintegrated before their eyes. Rat whistled.

"Thank God she didn't use that type of water on me!" They continued down the passageway, Sentinel leading. Suddenly, he stopped again, his one good eye rolling in alarm.

"We need to be very cautious from here on in. I sense that we are not the only ones here." He slowly opened the ornate white wooden door. A piercing scream met them on their entrance into the room. A small, brown-haired girl in a white dress was frantically trying to scale the wall, followed closely by a tide of black water. Icefen growled, recognizing a presence similar to one he had helped to defeat four years before, to help the other Universal, Rat's best friend. He leapt forwards with a loud bark, and blew hard onto the wave. It began to slow down, large crystals of ice forming on its surface, but intent on its pursuit of the young girl above it. Icefen blew a second time and it stopped, frozen in its tracks. The frost wolf inhaled deeply. The third icy breath shattered the wave into oblivion. Millions of tiny black crystals sparkled on the floor. The little girl fell with a thump onto Icefen's back. Devoid of all energy, Aisling withdrew the links that she had extended.


	20. Resolutions

A/N: **Ouch… my fingers hurt. I had to retype this chapter onto another computer because I've lost my memory stick! By the way, happy Easter, everyone! Did you get many Easter eggs? I got cookies, myself :) but I still have two other Easter eggs! Thank you very much to my reviewers,**

**Angelmail: **You're an amazing writer too! I hope you update soon :)

**DustyG: **Lol, Michael still hasn't reappeared… Mr. Coddrington is back, though!

**Sparkleglitz01: **Thank you :) I think (well, hope) it went okay, lol!

**Air Gemini Star: **Another oneshot and the first chapter of a new story will be posted Tuesday when I get back from Galway!

**365 Pages of Awesomeness: **That sounds good! I sent you a DocX link :)

* * *

**Resolutions**

Nick opened his eyes. For once, Aisling had managed to stay standing. She looked incredulous, overwhelmed by what had happened. Icefen broke the silence, bursting into the cavern in a clatter of claws, and barked happily. He flopped into a heap beside Aisling, panting heavily. She hesitantly scratched his head, and to everybody's surprise, began to laugh.

"Well, that's ironic. Caught by a frost wolf and saved by a frost wolf!" Rat began to snigger. Icefen gave a toothy grin.

"So, do you remember?" Kinga asked cautiously. Aisling's expression sobered.

"Everything." Col, who had been standing pensively beside Connie, spoke.

"There's just one thing I don't understand. Why was Rat able to get rid of Kulevro so easily?" Connie turned to him and whispered in his ear.

"Do you remember the time that Kullervo kidnapped you and took you over?"

"That was different. I'm not a universal." he murmured back. Connie raised her voice so that the rest of the room could hear.

"Aisling technically wasn't a universal." Eagle-Child frowned.

"Connie, we've just seen her powers. What else could she be, if not a universal?" The other Trustees looked as if they were about to confirm Eagle-Child's opinion. Connie raised her hand for silence.

"She had the raw talent that all universals share, but her gift hadn't been confirmed. She had never bonded with more than one creature."

The room was silent, sensing the rare authoritative tone in Connie's voice. She continued.

"I think that the reason Kulevro wasn't able to keep a foothold in Aisling's mind was because he had nothing to latch onto. He is a false companion, a type of parasite. He wasn't able to take over her mind because he had no formal proof that she was a universal. I think that that was what he was doing on the moor; he was waiting for more of his allies to join him, so they could imprint their encounters onto Aisling's mind, and build a foundation for his own mark."

"I knew it! I knew that we should have restricted her to one species!" Mr. Coddrington screeched. "If you had followed my advice, we would have never had the problem with Kullervo in the first place!" Kinga frowned, annoyed with his constant interruptions.

"And Kullervo would never have been vanquished. Mr. Coddrington, you are behaving very childishly. If you interrupt one more time, you will have to leave." She turned her attention back to the centre of the room.

"So does that mean that they should not bond with more than one companion?" Connie shook her head.

"They should have a companion to act as a counterweight to Kullervo's pull, like I have Argand, but we shouldn't prevent them from bonding with others. In any case, Aisling has already bonded with more than one creature, in the shared encounter that got rid of Kulevro's presence."

"But why didn't that encounter allow Kulevro to leave his mark?" Jade asked.

"The encounter doesn't join the wall until it has been broken off, and you were still bonded with her when you came across him. If he entered her mind again, he'd be able to leave his mark on the wall of encounters. It wouldn't have made any difference to him if she had been restricted to only one companion; he would have found a way around it." Aisling nodded in agreement.

"He was thinking about that a lot when he was in the moor with me. It's like a game for him, a code to crack. He would figure out a way to get back in eventually, and I'd have no idea on how to defend myself against him." Connie looked at her curiously.

"He didn't block his thoughts from you?" she asked.

"I could hear everything, including a few unmentionable insults to me and the human race in general. He had a really foul temper."

"That's both good and bad news; he's more likely to make mistakes, but he's also a lot more dangerous. He's probably already sensed that he has been ejected from her mind, so we need to take action fairly quickly."

"What companions do you think they should have?" Morjik rumbled.

"I know one already. Gard, would you be Nick's companion?"

"I would be honoured," he replied. "Nick, I knew your great-uncle. You look a lot like he did." Nick looked overwhelmed by this piece of information. Windfoal tapped her front hoof on the ground.

"My student is ready to take on a companion as well. A unicorn would also be a useful companion for Amiere, considering what she went through." Connie smiled, remembering when her aunt had suggested the same thing when Kullervo's mark was starting to affect her. There could not be better companions chosen for the two new universals.

"Great idea, Windfoal." her companion praised. "Nick, Aisling, you should have two separate types of lessons; the lessons with your companion that every new member of the Society takes, and separate lessons with Connie on how to use the tools of the universal. Is that okay with the three of you?"

Mr. Coddrington snorted, and stormed out of the room, muttering as he went.

"What's his problem?" asked Rat cheerfully. Kira looked at the entrance to make sure that Mr. Coddrington had left before speaking.

"You have to keep this quiet, but Mr. Coddrington is beginning to lose his gift." Connie's eyes widened.

"Is that even possible?"

"I'm afraid so. You know how strong the bond between a person and its companion is."

"But Godiva still kept her gift, even after her companion died!"

"Hoo is still alive, and that's what makes the difference. If either the person or the companion dies, only the bond is severed. But if it is severed willingly, both the person and its companion are not only unable to communicate with each other, but with others of the same species." Connie nodded sympathetically. She did not like the assessor, but she could not imagine life without the Society.

"Is there any way to stop it?"

"It's never happened before, so we don't know."

Aisling shivered. Kulevro had told her that he was her companion. Would she lose her gift too?


	21. Questions

A/N: I'm back!!! JC should be banned… Because of around fifty (or more) hours of forced study in the last week combined with a confiscated laptop, I haven't had any chance to update! Sorry I took so long to finally get this up. Thanks to my reviewers:

_**Angelmail:**_ Just came to me :) I BLAME THE CHOCOLATE CHIPS! Lol, obviously they're good for something!

_**DustyG: **_Thank you :) I actually had that part planned since the beginning, lol!

_**Sparkleglitz01**_: Maybe it's because we're both Irish :) He's a lot of fun to portray!

_**365 Pages of Awesomeness:**_ I think we both need to send seperate links, that's what I did with the stories I beta :) Btw, when are you going to update your story- I need to read more of it!

_**Air Gemini Star:**_ You seem hyper. You should check out Angelmail's forum! We're all hyper there!

and especially _**Hugapug Puggywug,**_ who reviewed EVERY CHAPTER!: As you know, you got the special review number- 96 :) Should Omar be good, evil or ignored?

* * *

_**Questions**_

Glad that the meeting was finally over, Nick stifled a yawn and began to inch towards the place where they had entered the cavern. Gard, noticing his companion's eagerness to leave, put a gentle hand on his shoulder and chuckled.

"Wait a moment, companion. I believe that Connie has something else to say." Nick made an attempt to restrain his obvious fatigue- he had not slept a wink since Aisling had been admitted to hospital. Gard made a minute gesture towards the centre of the room, barely noticeable by anyone who was not in the immediate vicinity. Nick slowly began to shuffle towards the centre of the room again. The moment he joined the other universals at the centre of the engraved compass, the balance felt right again. Connie noticed the two newest additions to her company's shared fatigue and sat down, encouraging Aisling and Nick to do the same. She waited until they had sat down, then pulled a newspaper from the pocket of her anorak. With a rueful smile, she handed the paper to Aisling.

On the page displayed, there was a clear picture of Aisling. She put her head in her hands in embarrassment- the picture had been taken three years beforehand, on her first day of secondary school. She was wearing a hideous maroon jumper two sizes too large for her and was completely swamped in a maroon skirt almost down to her ankles in length. The uniform was completed with a bottle-green shirt and a maroon and green striped tie that looked to be in danger of choking her.

The twelve-year-old smiled awkwardly at the camera, her mismatched eyes narrowed as she squinted to avoid the autumn sun's harsh glare that emphasised her metal braces, making them glint madly. Her brown hair was caught up in a neat plaited ponytail behind her.

Nick sneezed loudly, trying to cover up his rising laugh. Aisling glared furiously at him. He swallowed his laughter and looked from the picture to Aisling curiously. She looked so different now.

Noticing his intense gaze, she blushed and turned away, folding the newspaper over so that the picture was no longer visible. As her eyes skimmed over the article, her expression gradually changed. She looked up, frowning.

"You never told me that I was missing! Please, take me back home. My parents must be so worried!" She gestured to Nick, noticing his calm expression.

"What about Nick? Are his parents not worried as well?" Nick shook his head.

"My mum is a member of the Society. She knows where I am." This front of help failed, she looked at each of the Trustees with pleading eyes.

"I understand that Kulevro is a huge threat, and I know that I have to be trained to resist him, but could I at least phone my parents and let them know I'm safe?" Morjik answered her.

"We would not keep you here against your will, Universal. You are free to choose to do what you will. We made that mistake once- we will not do it again." Aisling suppressed her curiosity as to why the dragon had said this and did not interrupt to ask, eager for him to continue. However, he spoke no more on that subject, instead choosing to ask her a question.

"You seem a lot more accepting of this than I expected. What is your honest opinion of the Society?" Aisling scratched her head, unsure of how to answer. While she did not want to offend the creatures present, she did not want to lie either.

"Um. Can I ask you a question first before I give you my answer?" she asked hesitantly. Morjik inclined his head.

"Why wasn't I found before now? Loads of people have seen me since I went 'missing', why didn't they report me?" Morjik considered the question before answering, turning it over in his ancient mind.

"That is a fair question. While I am unable to read the minds of passing people," he smiled at Connie for some unknown reason, "We had an… incident with one of our Society members a few years ago with one of the more dangerous creatures that we protect, and there was nobody in the hospital who could help her, so we had to bring outside help to her. Because of this, we stationed one of our Society members in the hospital who was well trained in healing, and she kept your case completely confidential. Did you notice that only one doctor came in to see you?" Aisling in fact had not noticed this- she had been unconscious for most of her time at the hospital, but nodded in agreement regardless. She laughed nervously.

"Well, in that case, I suppose you seem a little bit like spies. I mean, you're really secretive, and you have people positioned everywhere- like Nick at my school, even though he's the same age as me, and then there was the nurse in the hospital. You just seem to have a few stalkerish tendencies." Rat snorted with laughter, and began to applaud her words.

"Brilliant! You have us in a nutshell!" Everybody seemed to be struggling to keep a straight face. She tried answering the question again, her face red in embarrassment.

"But then again, you also seem a little like a wildlife Society. Admittedly, the creatures you protect are a little more… unusual than most, but maybe that's where the secrecy is coming from." Morjik sighed in relief.

"Your second theory is a little closer to the mark. The Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures is an ancient society set up to protect all mythical creatures from the section of mankind that would exploit us mercilessly. For this reason, we are kept a secret, but 'stalkers' is a little harsh, don't you think?" Aisling agreed, but wondered why he had changed the subject of her contacting home. Strangely, Connie also seemed to realize this, and turned to Aisling.

"Don't worry about your family. It's safer for them if they aren't involved, so I've come up with a plan for you to stay nearby. How would you feel about some new relatives?"


	22. Hypnosis

_**A/N:**_ I meant to update earlier, honest! But at least the chapter is finally up :) Thanks to my reviewers,

_**Angelmail:**_ Art went okay :) It's the ten left I'm worried about! What about you?

_**DustyG:**_ Aw, thank you! You'll find out now :)

_**Sparkleglitz01: **_Thank you so much :) I'm glad you like the characters!

_**Air Gemini Star: **_Lol, lucky you! You've finished your exams? Sorry for making you procrastinate :)

_**365 Pages of Awesomeness:**_ :( Oh, that's so sad! I really hope your computer gets fixed soon!

* * *

_**Hypnosis**_

Aisling shook her head sadly.

"I don't have any relatives in England. I don't have any relatives outside my immediate family at all, apart from an uncle in America, but I've never even seen him." Connie merely smiled. Nick's face brightened- he had also caught on to the idea.

"I don't think she means that kind of relative, Aisling." Aisling looked at Connie dubiously.

"Do you mean I'm staying with the Society? What about my parents, though? They'll never buy that, especially after I went missing. Wouldn't that just pose a threat to the Society's secrecy if I told them that I had been safe with you the whole time? And there is no _way_ I'm telling them about Kulevro." She shuddered. In answer to her questions, Rat looked to Connie for confirmation, and she nodded her head. He grinned happily.

"Don't worry- Icefen and I can take care of that."

Anna and John Hollingsworth sat, numbed with grief, in the sitting room, a framed photo of their missing daughter and a telephone on the table in front of them. Neither of them spoke; the only sound was that of the monotonously ticking clock in the kitchen. Tears flowed freely and silently down Mrs. Hollingsworth's face.

A contradictorily cheerful ring of the doorbell broke the silence. Anna hurriedly wiped the tears from her face and placed the cup of untouched, lukewarm tea that she had been nursing in her shaking hands onto the table.

At the door, a teenage boy with an enormous animal that she assumed to be a police dog waited expectantly on the front step. He looked a little young to be part of the Gardaí, but she called her husband to the door regardless.

"Have you found her?" she asked hopefully, encouraged by the wide smile on the boy's face. She did not have time to build up a scream; the dog lunged at them in a flurry of fur and frost.

"Are you always this sadistic?" asked Nick, stepping out from behind a bush. Mr. and Mrs. Hollingsworth stared blankly at the two boys, kept in a trancelike state by the frost-wolf's icy breath.

"Nah, it's not that sadistic, really. They don't remember anything that happened- unless you want them to, of course."

"And do you want them to?" Icefen's breathing began to grow wheezy, and Rat did not answer for a moment, silently helping his companion to focus on keeping each breath gentle. Icefen sneezed and his breathing fell into a steady rhythm once again. Rat turned to Nick, beaming with pride over his past discovery.

"I found out how to do it when I was helping to keep people away from a Society gathering- if you came across a giant group of creatures that shouldn't even exist, would you keep it a secret?" he interrupted himself as he noticed Nick's curious expression at his first statement. "My cousin gave me the idea for it; she was experimenting with cryogenics to see if it could be used for hypnotism. I decided that I'd try it with Icefen the next time I got a chance, and it worked, strangely enough. If Icefen puts a small amount of energy into a lot of smaller breaths instead of one big breath, you can suggest things to the person. I tried it with Mrs. Stephenson to keep me from failing a trigonometry test once, and Dr. Brock almost killed me! Wait- no, he almost killed me when I used it to annoy his sister! Remind me to thank Aisling later; I'm still supposed to have another three weeks left of the ban." Nick laughed- Rat's enthusiasm for everything was infectious.

"So what happened when he found out about the Trigonometry test?" Rat furtively lowered his eyes.

"Um… he hasn't. Pretend you didn't hear that." Icefen nudged Rat's hand impatiently, and he smacked his forehead.

"Of course! I have to give Mrs. Hollingsworth a new false sister. Will you ring Connie and ask her to bring Aisling over? I'll have it sorted out by the time they get here, probably. They're at your house, aren't they?" Nick dialled his house number into the mobile Rat tossed him, and pressed the call button.

"Hello? Who is this?" asked a familiar voice.

"Hey, Aisling. It's Nick. You're able to come over now, Rat has sorted everything out."

"I'll let Connie know. We should be there in around five minutes."

"Okay, see you then." he replied and returned the phone to Rat, who promptly dropped it. He looked in concern at the phone that was now lying in four pieces on the ground, but then dismissed it.

"Ah, I'm sure it can be fixed. At least it didn't explode." Mrs. Hollingsworth opened her eyes blearily.

"Are you collecting for charity?" John asked Rat, eyeing the giant frost-wolf suspiciously. Rat quickly came up with an excuse.

"We're doing a project on animal protection in school, and we wanted to do more to save the… Iberian wolf."

"I didn't think there were wolves in Spain." Rat rapidly nodded his head.

"Exactly! They're so rare that nobody even knows they exist!

Mr. Hollingsworth's expression turned to one of concern, and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a few coins.

"I hope that you manage to save the Iberian wolf. Good luck!" He closed the door abruptly in their face, just as Connie and Aisling turned into the driveway.

"What was that about?" inquired Nick, bemused.

"Having your brain half-frozen by a frost wolf tends to have that effect on people." Rat replied cheerily, waving madly to Connie and Aisling.

"Did you sort everything out?" asked Connie.

"Yep. She now thinks that her maiden name is Lionheart, and she has a sister called Evelyn who she hasn't seen in years. I took care of the "missing" problem as well- they now think that she's been found locked in a library for a week. They'll take care of the newspapers- we can head back now, if you want." Aisling gave him a strange look. Rat shrugged his shoulders.

"What! It could happen!"

_**A/N: I'll post again tomorrow if I get… four reviews? Please? I don't usually ask for reviews, but four reviews would be nice :D And check out Hugapug Puggywug's (commonly known as Puggy) new fic, "Fragile Beginnigs", which I happen to be beta-ing :) And I'm trying to choose which fic I'm going to do when I'm finished this one! So if you could help me choose by voting in my poll, I'd appreciate it :) You can get a small summary of each on my website (the link is on my profile!)**_

_**-Darling Summers :)**_


	23. Musings

I'm sorry :( Compliments of the famous Irish weather, our power went out because of a hailstorm so I couldn't update, despite my four reviews! Thanks to:

**Angelmail: **Give the credit to the chocolate chips, lol!

**DustyG: **I got locked in a library, once :) Not for a week, but I took inspiration from that :D

**Sparkleglitz01: **Thank you; I liked the idea of it :)But of course, you can guess how I came up with it, lol!**  
**

**Air Gemini Star:** Well, I meant to :)**  
**

**Hugapug Puggywug: **We have to wear the same uniform :(**  
**

**365 Pages of Awesomeness: **Glad you thought so :) Here's that update!

* * *

_**Musings**_

Connie paused before knocking on the door to Aisling's room. She studied the door curiously- there was no wood showing at all, every available space covered in pictures. It was reminiscent of her old room in Lionheart Lodge, where she had tried to block out the dead, numb feeling of the house with vibrant, colourful pictures of her animal friends.

"Come in," Aisling said softly. She was sitting on top of a suitcase that refused to close, evaluating the room around her. She stood up and took a photo of a red fox from the wall and slipped it into her pocket, then sat down on the case again. Connie's heart went out to her- she remembered what it had been like, leaving her parents- and she hadn't even been that close to them.

"Do you need any help packing?" she asked. Aisling did not reply. "I'm really sorry that this happened to you- I can partly empathize with you. Something like it happened to me when I was eleven." Aisling turned around in disbelief.

"You mean Kullervo kidnapped you and forced you to leave your family too?" Connie laughed.

"Not quite. I had problems in school because of my bond with animals, and when my parents moved to another country with my little brother Simon, they left me with Evelyn rather than go through an international school." Aisling looked at Connie with sympathy; she didn't know that she had went through all that. Connie sensed her sympathy, and moved on to the more positive aspects of what had happened.

"It was the best thing to do then- I'm glad now that it worked out that way. I would have never become part of the Society, I would never have won out over Kullervo- and I would never have met Col." Aisling looked at Connie a second time- if Connie had been able to get through this without any other universal's help, surely she could do it with Connie's experience to support and guide her. She could not help but feel a little envious- Connie seemed to have the perfect life at the moment. She wondered whether she would ever find a soul mate like Connie had obviously found in Col, but the thought was fleeting. She stood up, and zipped the suitcase.

"I'm ready to go."

****

Even with four passengers and a very large suitcase on her back, Connie's flight back to England was an easy one. She opted for a selkie form from the Stacks onwards- she would only have attracted attention otherwise. Rat seemed opposed to the idea, and shuddered visibly as he plunged into the icy water. She laughed inwardly as she realized that he was probably recounting the first time he had swam with a selkie, and had caught hypothermia afterwards.

Connie felt for any mythical presences around her, and was unsurprised to feel none. The sirens had abandoned the Stacks years ago, and the Kraken had left the shallow sea in search of deeper waters. Suddenly, a dark shadow slipped across her mind. She looked around in alarm, anticipating attack. As soon as the presence had appeared, it disappeared. She shivered. Had she just imagined it? Regardless, she began to swim a little faster.

****

Later that evening, Aisling stood awkwardly and self-consciously with Connie, Col, Nick and Rat. A girl with softly curling red hair and light freckles had introduced herself as Jessica, and pulled forward a boy with brown hair and eyes to introduce him as her companion and fiancé, Arran. Aisling was a little bemused at this, but Connie assured her that Arran was half-human and was perfect for Jessica. She could now see that Connie had been right- every move Jessica made, Arran was blissfully aware of, and vice versa. Her thoughts from earlier that day returned- every couple in the Society she had met so far were so happy together.

She had never actually went out with anyone- the only thing that came close were Conor's advances, and she did not even want to think about that. She abandoned her musings as a massive dragon lumbered into the barn, followed by a man who walked into the centre of the room.

"Welcome, everyone. A special welcome goes out to our two new young members, Nick and Aisling, and some guests from the London branch of the Society." Aisling was grateful for the offhand introduction- she did not like being the centre of attention. Everyone's attention was instead immediately drawn to the Asian family of a woman and two teenage boys, and a ten-year-old boy obviously unrelated to them. Liam, Omar, Ahmed and Ms. Khalid smiled in greeting to Connie and those surrounding her. Ms. Khalid had recently finalized the adoption; Liam was now a part of their family.

Liam had not calmed down in the three years since they had first met him as a hyperactive seven-year-old; in fact, the opposite was true. Like one of his beloved flames personified, he was permanently charged with energy. He stepped forwards proudly to join Dr. Brock and Argot at the front of the barn. However, his childish voice delivered a serious message.

"Yesterday, part of Chartmouth was set on fire, by the ruins of the refinery. Twelve people were injured, and five are still in hospital. Two people died as well. It could have been worse, but the Society got rid of the fire before it had a chance to spread and do more damage." He left to stand with his adopted family, and the gathering fell silent. Dr. Brock spoke quietly- he did not need to raise his voice when you could hear a pin drop.

"We have a new enemy. His name is Kulevro- many of you will remember the havoc his predecessor Kullervo caused." Liam stared at Dr. Brock with wide, panicked eyes- he had joined the year that Kullervo had been vanquished, but he knew Kullervo as the one who had caused the greatest disasters in the history of the Society. Similar reactions were to be observed around the room, and Dr. Brock held up his hands for silence.

"We just need you to be on your guard- he is very similar to Kullervo in power, but if you see any black creature with one red eye and one blue, notify the Society authorities immediately, preferably one of the Trustees. Now, on to lighter matters. As you know, we have two new members of Connie's company in our branch of the Society-" Aisling groaned silently. She had been hoping to avoid this. "-but they have to be kept a secret from everyone- that includes other branches of the Society. That means no gossiping." He looked meaningfully at Mrs. Clamworthy, who glared indignantly back.

The rest of the meeting flew by- Connie was called on to report on what she had done so far as a Trustee. Aisling did not miss the barely-noticeable grimace that Connie gave before speaking. She smiled- at least she wasn't the only one who did not flourish in the spotlight.

After the meeting, Aisling wandered around the farmland for a while, with Mr. Masterson's permission.

As night began to fall, she heard footsteps approaching from behind her. She turned around quickly, terrified of encountering Kulevro again. Her paranoia faded as she saw a member that she had seen earlier at the meeting walk towards her. He ran a hand through his blonde hair- nervously, she thought.

"Hi there. You're Aisling, aren't you?" he asked. "I'm new to this chapter as well. My name's Michael- do you mind if I walk with you?"

A/N: Aheee!!! Didn't expect that, did you?! *smiles evilly* I've been spending too much time betaing for Puggy…

Anyhoo, would anyone be interested in a very random contest with the prize of either a chapter of Company of the Universals or a new CQ story I'm writing in advance? Let me know :D

-Darling Summers


	24. Warnings

**A/N: **I finally got time to update- sorry if it's not that good. I haven't had much time to write; the JC starts next Wednesday!!!! :$ Wish me luck!

As some of you know, the competition is "Name the Worm"- you can find details and a picture of said worm under "My Artwork" on my website- there's a link on my profile :D Thanks to my reviewers;

**Missie Koala:** Your review on Argand's story was completely uncalled for. Is there any chance you'd apologize to her?

**DustyG: **Wait and seeee....

**365 Pages of Awesomeness:** Lol, we all want to read more! Angelmail has been wondering why you aren't updating; so am I!

**Sparkleglitz: **Thank you :D It'll all turn out okay :D

**Angelmail:** I had to think of a way to get Omar in Hescombe- you'll soon find out why :D

* * *

_**Warnings**_

Connie absentmindedly scratched Argand's gleaming golden scales as the dragon crooned with pleasure. She felt completely relaxed within her companion's presence- it wasn't often that she could let her guard down completely. The barn was almost empty at this stage. The steady flow of the departing crowd of members had decreased to a trickle of people and their companions. Col caught her eye from the other side of the room and smiled at her; he had been talking to Captain Graves about signing up for mentoring. He had gotten the idea from Connie, who had suggested it during a training session with George, who treated the whole thing as a game. He was a very unusual three-year-old, and incredibly precocious due to his exposure to the Society through his parents and cousin.

"If I was odd without ant help whatsoever, imagine what he'll be like at my age!" mused Connie. Only last year, Mack had taken George deep-sea diving to encounter the Kraken, although he had received such a telling-off from Evelyn that he did not dare to try again, choosing instead to bring his elder son to man the boat occasionally.

Mack had still not quite forgiven Connie for insulting his beloved companion; the occasions on which she encountered the Kraken were rare. However, she often came to keep Col company as Mack would completely lose track of the time when playing the perilous game of diving with his companion. Although it was a little awkward having Mack as a chaperone- he would unexpectedly pop up to the surface like a cork from a champagne bottle to ensure that Col and Connie were not being too intimate- Connie enjoyed just sitting there, with no distractions save the steady lull of the boat and the slight slapping of the waves against the Water Sprite, each a delicate white horse of foam longing to feel the universal's touch. She never felt so calm and carefree as on those occasions with Col; it was reminiscent of an encounter with Argand or any other mythical creature that she knew and trusted, bar Icefen. But of course, any creature that was so closely bonded to Rat could not be expected to have a calming effect.

Col took the seat beside her and kissed her softly on the cheek.

"Are you okay?" Col asked. Connie sighed. Col knew her too well. There was no point in beating around the bush; he could always tell when there was something wrong. She shifted in her seat to face him.

"I'm worried. The Society doesn't need another Kullervo to battle against. In a way, this time it's worse, because we had known of Kullervo for centuries. Kulevro is entirely new; I have no idea whether we can defeat him the same way. We know nothing about him, so how do we get rid of him?" Col smiled slightly at Connie's habit of referring to anything involving the Society as "we", but did not let his amusement show on his face. He looked Connie in the eyes, and answered her sincerely.

"Connie, you're the best universal the Society's ever had. Better than Susanna Caldecott, better than Reginald Cony, even better than Guy De Chaulic. If anyone is able to defeat Kulevro, you are." Connie put her hand over her face in aggravated distress.

"What about the others? Little George barely understands the threat; I don't want to scare him. He's only three years old, he shouldn't be subjected to this kind of thing! And Aisling and Nick can't defend themselves against him, they've shown that much already. Why couldn't we have found them sooner!" Col put his hand on hers in reassurance, but she shook it off angrily.

"I don't know what to do!" she cried out in frustration. "Do all pegasi feel the same to you when you encounter them? I got a small sense of Kulevro, and even though he's the same species as Kullervo, he's completely different. Kullervo was manipulative; his son is destructive, with nothing to dilute it. He's incredibly dangerous, and I have no idea if he can be defeated the same way! Kullervo was far more subtle and archaic, so I'm not sure if Kulevro can be defeated the same way. He's younger and less experienced than Kullervo, so he can do a lot more damage without realizing the consequences. The fire he caused in Chartmouth is proof of that!"

Col looked at her with sympathetic eyes, and waited for her to calm down before speaking. His tone of voice was gentle; he had learned many years beforehand that he had to control his own temper and pride, as Connie was far more hot-headed as a result of her mergence with Kullervo's soul. Although she was usually able to keep Kullervo's personality submerged deep within her, and had mastered the control of it, Col could still catch the subtle swirling blue-black sheen to her eyes whenever she became angry or frustrated.

"Connie, calm down. Just because you don't know the extent of what he can do doesn't mean that he's all-powerful. You said yourself that he's younger and less experienced, so isn't that more good news than bad? We'll just have to wait and see what happens; it may be that Kulevro has no clue of what he is doing. Whatever happens, I'm always here for you to talk to- you know that, Connie." Connie turned away from him, all trace of fight abandoning her eyes.

"Thanks for the offer, Col. But if it's all right with you, I just need to think this over by myself for a little while." Argand butted Connie's arm affectionately, and looked up at her companion with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Sure, Argand. You can stay." Wanting to respect Connie's wishes but feeling slightly hurt that she did not want his company, Col got up from his chair. Connie gave him a weak smile and put her arms around Argand's broad, muscular shoulders. His gaze did not move away from her as she clambered onto Argand's back and took off into the night sky.

"Col!" He looked behind him, startled. Shirley pranced over happily to stand beside him, pressing herself against him. Col gave a nervous laugh and prised her away from him. Undeterred, she did a strange little hop to stand opposite him. Shirley tilted her head and looked up at Col, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Have you and Connie broken up?" she asked in an attempt of sympathy, but failing to disguise the note of glee in her voice. She did not wait for him to answer the question.

"That's so sad! Hey, I have a great idea! I'll pretend to go out with you to make Connie jealous. You're welcome!" She smiled sweetly at him. Col had really had enough of this; he may have been able to subdue his temper for Connie's sake, but he had no chance, and no intention, of managing to do the same with Shirley.

"Oh, what an amazing idea! However did you come up with it?" he replied sarcastically. All false pretences that Shirley had been under dropped immediately.

"Resorting to sarcasm again, Clamworthy? I really hoped that you would have grown out of that. I don't know why I ever wasted my time on you. Ever since Connie got kicked out of the Society- even though for some strange reason they let her back in- I've been trying to get you to notice me. Changing myself, undermining my intelligence so that you'd like me. For nothing!" she hissed scathingly at him. Col laughed recklessly; Shirley had always seemed cat-like to him, in the worst way possible.

"What deluded you into thinking that I found stupidity attractive?" Her eyes narrowed.

"I used to wonder what you ever saw in Connie, now I'm wondering what she ever saw in you!" With the last word, she attempted to stamp hard on Col's foot, but missed. Giving a high-pitched, angry shriek, she stormed out of the barn, narrowly missing Connie on her way out. Connie waited until Shirley was out of earshot, then collapsed in giggles, tears of laughter running down her face.

"It worked!" she laughed. "Just like you said it would, Omar!" Col looked around the barn curiously, and heard a loud sneeze come from behind the stacked hay-bales in the corner of the barn. Omar's head popped up from his hiding place. He brushed the hay-dust from his hair and clothing and gave another resolute sneeze. Still laughing, Connie turned towards the door again. "I'm going to go for that flight with Argand. Col, do you and Skylark want to come?" Omar shook his head, miming that he wanted to talk to Col.

"Maybe later. I forgot to… ask Dr. Brock something about the mentoring. I'll meet you at the plantation in around ten minutes, okay?"

"See you then!" Connie called. Argand emitted a joyous burst of crimson flame, anticipating the promised flight ahead with her companion.

"Hello, Omar." Col was curious as to why Omar had wanted to talk to him. As Connie was not there, Col saw no reason for Omar to speak with him.

"Thanks for your help, by the way. I never knew that Connie should act like that; even I didn't suspect a thing!" Omar acknowledged Col's words with a nod of his head, but seemed preoccupied.

"What is the name of the new boy? Not the universal, the pegasi companion, like you. Do you know him?" asked Omar politely. Col thought that he detected a sense of urgency, maybe even worry in his words.

"Michael. Why do you ask?" Omar answered his query with another question.

"Col, do you remember the advice I gave you at the Society headquarters?"

"Yeah…" he answered suspiciously. What did that have to do with anything.

"Don't take it when it comes to Michael." he replied shortly.


	25. Empathy

_**A/N: **_Sorry I haven't updated in ages!!! I'm still at the Junior Cert, so I haven't had much time to write… But I only have two more exams left! Yay :D Anyhoo, thanks to my reviewers:

_**RandomShadows: **_Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it :) I'm glad that you liked the penguin as well- penguins are so cool! :D And the Inspiration Penguin shall return... Just not in this fic :D

_**GreatWolf Fanatic (aka DustyG): **_Lol, the genre isn't suspense for nothing! :D Glad that it had the intended effect :)

_**Angelmail:**_ Thank you! I've taken a little detour from the ending, but it will return in Chapter 26 as a bigger focus-point :)

_**Sparkleglitz01: **_Ahee :) I liked that line too :D Poor old Shirley, we all love to torture her :D

_**Air Gemini Star: **_Lol, there's some more Connie/Col fluff in this chapter because you liked the last one :)

_**365 Pages of Awesomeness: **_Sorry if it was a bit confusing! I put it in for a bit of comic relief :D

Almost forgot! This chapter is dedicated to GreatWolf Fanatic because of a little misunderstanding on the forums, lol! Hope you've forgiven us :D

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_**Empathy**_

Thinking over what Omar had said to him, Col left the barn. Skylark was idly munching the hay from a stray hay bale, but his ears pricked up as he saw his companion approach him. Col leapt expertly onto Skylark's back, and a connection was instantly forged. Skylark resolved as always to give a passing glance to Col's thoughts, but began to focus more intently on them when he came across the remembered conversation with Omar.

"What happened?" he asked, concerned. Col looked sceptically at the pegasus; although Skylark could not see his expression, Col knew that he would sense it.

"I could say the same for you. Why aren't you talking to Cloudwings?" Skylark gave a snort of derision and replayed the scene in his thoughts for Col's benefit. Col felt his companion's embarrassment as the female pegasus rudely rejected his company, tossing her ebony mane as she cantered after her companion, who was striding confidently towards the fields. The memory ended abruptly.

"She wasn't very nice after all," Skylark muttered. Col sent a wave of sympathy towards the pegasus.

"I thought as much. Like human, like companion, I suppose." Col showed him what had happened.

Skylark turned his head to look at Col, surprise evident in his eyes.

"Are you going to tell Connie about it?" he asked.

"Of course. I told her that we would meet her at the plantation. We'd better hurry, we're already late." he told Skylark. He was anxious not to let Connie down. Skylark thankfully ignored the opportunity of teasing Col about his relationship with Connie as he was apt to do, and galloped into a take-off, immediately twisting into a Sycrusian Spiral to gain altitude.

"Show-off," Col laughed, giving his shoulder a slap jokingly.

"I should report you to the RSPCA for animal abuse!" Skylark whinnied, feigning hurt.

"I'm sure they'd take it very well if a flying horse turned up on their doorstep." Col retorted. Without warning, Skylark tumbled into a Thessalonian Roll. Col clung on for dear life as Skylark hesitated while they were still upside down. As they began to drop from the sky, Skylark started to fly again with a beat of his wings.

"You know, I quite like flying like this," Skylark stated conversationally as they flew over the pine-trees of the plantation. The blood was starting to rush to Col's head.

"Skylark!" he growled warningly.

"Fine…" The pegasus sighed dramatically and completed the rotation to resume flying normally. Spotting Connie and Argand, Col pointed downwards and Skylark swooped down to meet them, landing on the ground in a clatter of hooves and sending a shower of dust all over the four of them. Argand blinked, comically surprised, and with a ruffle of her wings restored the dust to Skylark and Col. Connie laughed at Col's shell-shocked expression, having received two undeserved showers of dust. He

hurriedly dismounted to avoid a third attack, and brushed the dirt from his clothes, albeit not making much of an impact. Connie helpfully transformed into a sylph and blew the dust away. Col clambered onto Skylark's back once again and offered Connie his hand, which she declined.

"I'm riding on Argand instead- we haven't had a flight together in ages." She threw her arms around Argand's neck and swung onto her back, comfortably settling between her companion's wings. At a silent signal, both Skylark and Argand took off.

Connie yelled in delight- although she loved flying on her own, it did not compare to the sense of companionship she felt when she was not the one with wings. It took no effort to lose herself in the air, and Col watched proudly, still not quite believing that the Society's saviour loved him.

_Wait, loved?_ The thought had passed through his mind without question. He knew how he felt about Connie, but did she feel as strongly as he did?

"_Well, ask her, you dolt!" _Col looked at Skylark, astonished. He was grateful that Connie was completely engrossed in her single encounter- this was a conversation he was not sure that he wanted her to hear.

"_What are you on about, Skylark?" _he asked silently. He did not think that Skylark had been listening in on his thoughts. It was reminiscent of what he had experienced as a fifteen-year-old, unsure of what he had felt for his best friend.

"_I was right then, so isn't it likely that I'm right this time as well? Now is the perfect time to tell her- I know you love her, and I'm pretty sure she loves you too." _Col shook his head sadly.

"_A hunch isn't good enough. I need a guarantee." _Skylark did not press the matter, sensing that his companion would own up to his feelings when he was ready- but what would the wake-up call be this time?

Col frowned, ignoring Skylark's musings. Abandoning their conversation, he turned to Connie.

"So, what was that prank about, anyway? Not that I'm not grateful- maybe now Shirley will leave me alone!" His words were inaudible; immediately whipped away by the wind.

"What?" Connie called. "I can't hear you!" Argand almost halted in midair, reminiscent of Skylark. Reading Col's mind, Skylark tilted slightly to the side, but was stopped by a warning glare from two pairs of mismatched eyes.

"So, do you think that you'll be repeating Skylark's variation on the Thessalonian Roll in the World Championships?" Connie asked Col teasingly.

"You didn't think it was so funny the first time we did a Thessalonian Roll with you on board! Does 'Stop it, you're going to get us killed' mean anything to you?" Connie rolled her eyes.

"You're worse than Rat. Anyway, what did you say?" she asked.

"I was just wondering how you pulled that prank off. You could have warned me beforehand!"

"The whole point was that you didn't know about it- that way, you'd blow up at Shirley and she'd finally leave you alone." Col was amazed that Connie could read him so well, and had known how he would react to something before he did.

"You played your part brilliantly, then. I never knew that you could act like that!" She smiled sadly and met Col's gaze, an element of seriousness emerging from the depths of her eyes.

"That's the thing, Col; I wasn't acting. I really am worried about it. How am I supposed to defeat him this time- you saw what happened when I even tried to get close to him. If I try to defeat him, Kullervo might escape. What can I do?"

"You can't do anything." Connie opened her mouth to interrupt, but Col continued. "Maybe you're not supposed to defeat him this time. You've already done more than enough by defeating Kullervo- Kulevro doesn't even know how you did it. You shouldn't feel like you have to defeat him this time just because you were able to get rid of the one before." Connie reached over the air to give Col a swift, one-armed hug.

"Thanks, Col. That really did help." But once she let go of Col, her face paled. "Argand, could we land, please?" Concerned for her companion, Argand immediately obeyed, rocketing towards the ground at a speed that rivalled the Athenian Dive. Skylark landed a split second after her, and Connie fell from the dragon's sloped back into Col's arms.

"Connie, what's wrong?" he asked urgently. She opened her eyes with a great deal of effort, and looked at Col. She whispered one broken word before losing consciousness.

"Kulevro."

_**Another A/N: Don't you just love cliffies! :D Review and make me happier than if I get 11 A's in the JC!**_


	26. Stranger

_**A/N: I'm afraid that this will be my last update for a while :S I'm heading off on my holidays for three weeks, and they don't have internet on Oileán Acla, as far as I know! Thank you so much to:**_

_**365 Pages of Awesomeness:**_ Sorry, I'm evil :) Another cliffie coming up!! :D

_**RandomShadows: **_I agree, they're a lot of fun to write. Speaking of writing, UPDATE!! :D

_**GreatWolf Fanatic: **_Thank you :) As you might have guessed, I like writing cliffies :D

_**Air Gemini Star: **_Very observant of you, well done! :) CxC fluff is the best :D

_**Angelmail: **_Thanks :) I think I did okay in them- well, I hope I did okay in them :D

_**Sparkleglitz01: **_Thank you! And speak for yourself about the cliffies :D

_**RavenShadow769:**_ Sorry, Inspiration Penguin can't return because it's almost over!! :D

Special thanks to RavenShadow for helping me name the chapter! And everyone, you should join Angelmail's forum! So much fun :D

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_**Stranger**_

The sky began to darken, rumbling ominously. Col looked up at the sky in panic- had Kulevro brought a weather giant along with him? It began to drizzle lightly, the water jolting Connie into consciousness. Her eyes suddenly opened, shining ethereally with silver light. Col felt a small amount of relief- there was nobody else he'd rather be in a crisis with than Connie- her cool head and incredible powers ensured that they always came out on top. Argand shuffled over to her companion, crooning in concern. She spread her wings like a tent over the two teenagers, sheltering them from the rain. Skylark hovered nearby, ready to fly for help at the most miniscule signal from Col.

Connie mentally searched the area for mythical creatures, friendly or otherwise. A quick scan of the vicinity revealed nothing, but on closer inspection, there was three small dots on the periphery of the plantation. Connie focused her mind to try and distinguish the three figures, but they were cloaked in a dark mist. Col noticed the concerned look on Connie's face, and waved a hand in front of her.

"Connie, what's wrong?" he asked. Connie screwed up her face in concentration.

"I'm… not quite sure who they are. Something's blocking me."

"Stone sprites, maybe?" She shook her head.

"It's different than that. It's not completely blocking me from seeing them, it just won't let me get any closer."

"Can you see what they are, even though you can't see who they are?" Connie looked at him in confusion.

"I'm not too sure what you mean, Col."

"As in, what company are they?" Connie nodded, and placed a finger on her forehead, trying to focus her mind.

"Two of them are companions, one is a… pegasus, I think, so one of the companions must be a two-four. As for the other one…" She looked up at Col in shock.

"It's one of the new universals. I can't tell which one it is, but it can't be a good sign if they're so close to Kulevro." She began to dissolve into the familiar silver mist, but Col put his hand on her still-solid wrist to stop her.

"If Kulevro is definitely here, or even if there is a chance that he is, then maybe you shouldn't shapeshift, so it'll be harder for him to sense you. Anyway, it's probably best to conserve your powers." Argand nodded in agreement, and knelt down on the ground, conveying with a toss of her head that she was more than willing to be an alternative mode of faster transport. Connie clambered onto the dragon, but Skylark grabbed the hood of her jacket in his teeth, pulling her gently off her companion, but making sure that she did not hit the ground suddenly. She was left dangling in midair for a moment, and despite Skylark's best efforts, managed to slip from the jacket and landed with a thud on the ground. Col was already on the pegasus, and offered Connie his hand to help her to climb on.

"Argand is too noticeable." The golden dragon sniffed in disdain, but as if to prove Col's point, an intermittent, dappled patch of moonlight chose that moment to settle over her scales, making them glint and shimmer in the half-light. "Sorry, Argand, but it's true. I know you want to help, but it's better if we go with Skylark; his colour isn't as noticeable." Connie stroked Argand's snout, trying to soothe her companion's hurt pride.

"I need you to go back to the barn- tell Dr. Brock to contact the Trustees. We'll probably need their help." Argand gave one last pleading glance at Connie, but knowing her mind was made up, she silently flew back to the farm. Col pulled Connie up in front of him, and Skylark began to beat his wings. Col shook his head.

"Remember that training session we did with Shirley?" Skylark nodded his head uncertainly. "Follow my lead- we're doing the same thing again." To Connie's surprise, Skylark did not take off, but continued to gallop into the plantation. She received a jolt of energy as she was invited into the shared bond, and smiled approvingly as she saw their plan.

"Risky, but it just might work." Skylark laughed inwardly.

"When have we not taken risks! Anyway, which way do we go, Universal?"

The spots of light became more defined the closer they travelled to the three Society members. Connie realized suddenly that it had been a type of weather giant obscuring her view as she recognized the familiar buzzing in her temples. But where was Kulevro? They finally broke out from the cover of trees and saw three figures entering the plantation.

"Stop!" Connie called. "It's dangerous, don't go in there!" The girl turned her head, and tapped the person beside her on the shoulder. Michael turned around to face them.

"Sorry, we didn't know! Cloudwings and I were exploring the area, and we invited Aisling to come with us. I'll take care of her, don't worry!" He grabbed hold of Aisling's hand.

"I'm sure he will," Col hissed to his companion. Connie glared at Col.

"Be nice!" she thought, directing the thought to the brown-haired pegasus companion. He looked at her with such sincerity in the eyes that mirrored her own perfectly, and all the slight irritation she had felt melted away. Col tended to have that effect on her.

"Connie, there is something strange about him," he wordlessly replied. "That's what Omar was talking to me about. For all we know, he could be trying to lead Aisling into Kulevro's hands again." Connie silently sighed, not in frustration, as Col had expected, but in agreement.

"There might be something in that theory. Argand told me that she sensed something strange about him, but I didn't notice anything unusual . I'm a universal, shouldn't I be the one who notices these things?" She had not meant for the last part to slip out, but Col understood, and did not refer to it in his answer, although both of them knew that he had heard.

"The most important thing is that we get them both out of here- it's probably best that we don't mention Kulevro. It's still possible that Michael is on the Society's side, but we can't afford to make presumptions." Connie smiled, a little sadly, a small trace of shame in her eyes. Col wished that he could comfort her right then, but Michael was looking at the couple expectantly, impatiently tapping his foot as they continued to look into each other's eyes. Col thought that he heard him stifle a false cough, but was not sure. He tugged at Aisling's hand and gestured with his free hand towards the plantation.

Aisling looked slightly guilty, and withdrew her hand from Michael's grasp. She made sure not to look at him, and averted her eyes to the dusky sky above them. A gentle mist covered the dim stars in a hazy cloud, possibly through the work of the weather giant.

"It's getting late. I agree, we should probably start heading back." Michael's face fell, and he looked a little lost for a moment. He opened his mouth to speak, but the screech that came next, sending several birds flying up into the sky from the forest in alarm, could not possibly have come out of his mouth.

"What was that?" he whispered, his face pale. Aisling looked terrified.

"I recognize that sound. We need to get out of here, fast!"


	27. Don't Ask Me

**Hello! This isn't an A/N. I'm sure Eimear will put up the note that thanks all of you for reviewing and putting a title on it and stuff when she gets back, but she just sent me the chapter. In the post. For some reason I find that incredibly funny. But either way, she went to the trouble of writing it and I went to the trouble of deciphering her handwriting to type it up, so the least you can do is read and review it! Eimear won't be able to read your reviews for another two weeks, but I will try to appreciate them just as much as she would. Bye!

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**

Michael looked up at the fading starlight and a menacing glint flashed over his grey eyes.

"Skylark, would you mind very much if I rode you? I have an idea." Connie looked at Col in disbelief.

"Col, you don't think Skylark will actually say yes, will he?" she silently asked. Col shook his head slightly, in a movement that could be excused as brushing his hair back from his face.

"I doubt it." They had not noticed that Michael had started to speak until they caught the end of what he had said.

"-won't be expecting that. So what do you think?" To Col's surprise, Skylark nodded his head. He shot a pleading glance at his companion.

"It's probably the best option we have," Skylark whinnied.

"Sorry, but what's the plan again? I don't really understand it." Col stated. Michael looked at him as if he was mad.

"It's simple enough. Kulevro probably saw you coming in on Skylark, so if you and I flew on Skylark we could act as a diversion long enough to get the girls safely home on Cloudwings." Connie glared at him.

"I take offence to that statement. We _girls _are well able to take care of ourselves." Michael hurriedly tried to correct his mistake.

"Since both of you are universals, you'd be way more useful to him than a couple of pegasus companions, if he did capture us." The question of whether or not to trust Michael was completely forgotten as Connie took into account the fact that Col could be in danger.

"Col, I'm not letting you do this," she said, attempting a joking tone but managing to sound even more desperate. She remembered the many times that Col had risked his life for her, and she would not let it happen again, if she could help it. Col put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and led her away from the small group.

"Connie, the chances of Kulevro actually catching us are slim to none, especially considering my riding skills." He paused, a look of comical pride on his face that evoked a small giggle from Connie. "It's you we need to worry about. You're really important, Connie- don't forget that." They were interrupted by the soft thump that Cloudwings made when landing. Before mounting the black pegasus that Aisling was already sitting awkwardly on, she turned around once again to face Col and pressed her lips gently to his.

"Take care," she whispered. Cloudwings took off into the night, blending almost instantly into the pitch-dark night that had fallen. Col took a deep breath and vaulted onto his companion's back expertly. Michael tried to mount behind him, but Skylark suddenly reared up, leaving Michael to fall into the dust. Skylark looked at Col meekly.

"What was I supposed to do? He pulled out one of my wing feathers!" he complained.

"Skylark, be quiet! Kulevro will hear us!" Col hissed. If the situation had been less tense, he might have laughed at his companion's audacity. Skylark returned to the ground, hurt by the harsh tone of Col's voice, and Michael made a second, more careful attempt to climb on.

"Do you think Kulevro is the weather giant?" Skylark asked, trying to reconcile with Col. A second screech came from inside the plantation.

"Not any more," he replied grimly. "We'd better go in." Skylark leapt silently into the air and climbed in altitude until they were directly above the coniferous forest. The shadowy points of the trees stood like upturned daggers, a warning to all who would dare enter it at night. Col's voice broke the silence.

"Come out and face us, Kulevro!" he called, sounding a lot braver than he felt.

A black arrow shot into the sky- despite the darkness and distance, two glimmering jewels, one blood red and the other azure blue, were still visible. Skylark was frozen with fright, unable to move. Col gave him a sharp but necessary kick in the side, and he flew upwards to avoid the black hawk. He moved a split second too late; the hawk's razor-sharp beak tore into his side, the red beads of blood a stark contrast against Skylark's grey coat. Skylark screamed in pain, and plummeted downwards, with the hawk following closely behind. It suddenly disappeared, and a colossal dragon took its place. Col recalled what Kullervo had done to him in dragon form- there was no armour to protect him now. Skylark obviously remembered it too, and did not need Col's guidance to evade the dragon's lethal tail, but he had forgotten about the dragon's equally deadly claws.

With a lazy flick of the blunt side of his claw, Kulevro knocked them out of the sky and sent them spiralling uncontrollably towards the treetops. Giving up hope, Col closed his eyes and waited, anticipating the inevitable outcome of the fall. It never came.

Refusing to accept defeat, Skylark had pulled into a Sycrusian Spiral, a move so familiar to him now that he could do it with his eyes closed. With the blood from a gash on his forehead trickling into his eyes and impairing his vision, that was exactly what he had done.

Temporarily blinded, he was forced to land- Col was usually his eyes in training situations like this, but that pair of mismatched eyes were fixated on a small golden dot on the periphery of their vision.

"Argand, he's over there!" Col called out, and the golden dragon zoomed towards the shape shifter who was more than twice her size. Col was afraid to look- what did Argand think she was doing, challenging Kulevro like that? Many more multicoloured specks appeared on the horizon, and Col smiled in relief- she had obviously brought her family as backup.

Michael slid from Skylark's back and landed in an unconscious heap on the forest floor. Col looked at Skylark anxiously- Michael was not the only one who had received casualties. Skylark had several scratches and cuts, and his coat had turned a mottled red, brown and grey colour in places as a result of the blood he had lost. Skylark shook his head with a good deal of effort.

"Better wake him up first- I can hold out for a while." Col nudged Michael's outstretched hand with his foot. His eyes suddenly snapped open, and flickered in all directions without fixing on any spot for more than a millisecond.

"No… I didn't mean to do it! I'll do it right! Please don't hurt me!" Col looked at his companion in panic- he had not expected that to happen. Skylark did not share his panic- he was looking on curiously.

"Try slapping him in the face," he suggested. A loud thwack resounded through the forest. Skylark winced.

"Not _that _hard!" But it seemed to have worked regardless; Michael was sitting up, gingerly rubbing the large bruise on his forehead that Col had given him.

"What happened?" he mumbled. Col glanced at Skylark guiltily. Thankfully, his companion stepped in to save him.

"You must have gotten hit as well. I hope the dragons do better than we did against him." Michael immediately regained full consciousness as the smaller dragons- Argand and her siblings- landed beside them. His eyes gave another strange flicker as Argand eyed him suspiciously. She spoke to Col only, completely ignoring Michael's presence.

"He got away, but at least none of us got hurt." She paused and took in the sorry state of the trio.

"Col, I'll take you back to the barn. Skylark doesn't look like he'll be able to fly, my father will probably be able to carry him."

"What about Michael?" he asked quietly. Argand looked at Michael, who had remained seated on the forest floor and had not acknowledged their presence, with disdain, and recoiled slightly.

"Can't he walk?" she asked hopefully. When her question was not answered, the dragon sighed dramatically and, with a nod of her head, signalled for her ruby-hued brother to extend a wing to the other pegasus companion. Col laughed inwardly- Argand was obviously the ringleader of the small group. Apparently her colour and choice of companion had raised her status in the family.

"Let's go, then- Connie is starting to get worried," she snickered. Skylark's ears pricked up, and Col groaned. It looked like Skylark's mocking of his relationship with Connie would soon amplify.


	28. Suspicions

_**A/N: **_I'm back from Achill! I had a great time there, the sheep were very cute and the beaches were lovely- when we were blessed with sunshine, of course :D Special thanks to Lily, aka The Befuzzled Lemur, for posting the last chapter for me! And of course to my reviewers:

_**GreatWolf Fanatic: **_Thank you! You're an amazing author yourself :)

_**Sparkleglitz01: **_I'm back now! :) Glad you liked it :D

_**Angelmail:**_ Thanks, Angelmail! Have a good time in Spain :)

_**NidnightCat 22 (Aka RavenShadow):**_ You and Angelmail don't seem to like Michael very much, lol! :)

_**Mary:**_ Wow, three reviews! Thanks! And the button used to be blue, lol :D

_**Dommy:**_ Hey, thanks, Dommy! Have you gotten around to reading the books yet? :D

_**365 Pages of Awesomeness: **_I couldn't leave you hanging for three weeks! That would be evil of me :D

Just a few more things to say- Company of the Universals is almost over! I've planned out the last chapters, and it'll end at Chapter 32. I'll be posting the first chapter of my new story in a few minutes, so be on the lookout for that one :D Special dedication to Angelmail as well, in hope that she enjoys her holidays in Spain!

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_**Suspicions**_

The moment Argand set foot on the ground outside the barn, Connie threw her arms around her.

"Argand, I'm so glad you're okay! But where's Col?" Argand looked at her companion gravely.

"Kulevro attacked us again on the way back. Col got quite badly hurt, so they've taken him to Chartmouth hospital to get his injuries checked out. I tried to come and tell you before the ambulance left, but…" Argand broke off, seeing that there was no point in continuing. Tears were flowing freely down Connie's cheeks, and she hugged the golden dragon for dear life. Argand felt her own heart sink- any pain that Connie felt was intensified in her companion. "Hop on," she instructed. "I'll take you there." Knowing that she was too weak to fly by herself, Connie didn't argue, and swung one leg over Argand's back. As they flew rapidly towards the hospital, Argand silently filled Connie in on what had happened.

"It was my fault. I told the others to go ahead, because I wanted to talk to Col about… how I'm still suspicious of Michael. There's more reason to be worried than you think. He-" Connie cut in, not really in the mood to hear about Argand's theories.

"You can tell me about that later. How was Col hurt?" Argand was uneasy, as she knew that Connie needed to know what she had discovered, but she didn't want to make Connie more upset than she already was.

"Kulevro took the form of a weather giant again. We didn't stand much of a chance against him on our own. When I swerved to avoid a lightning bolt, Kulevro sent a gust of wind that made Col lose his grip, and he fell off me and hit the ground. At that point, Kulevro lost interest and went away, and I came back to the Masterson's with Col as quickly as I could. He seemed fine, but they're checking to see if he has a concussion. _Michael,_" she said the name with a sneer, "had to go along too- he had a pretty big bruise on his head." Connie let out a sigh of relief.

"So, he's okay then?" Argand nodded.

"He'll be fine, don't worry. Hold on- we're going to land here ." Argand let Connie off before they entered the suburbs. Renewed with energy now that she knew that Col was going to be all right, she transformed into a small silver robin and flitted swiftly away. Argand knew that Connie didn't expect her to wait for her, and turned towards the moors, anticipating a peaceful night of sleep after the eventful evening, but what she had discovered dominated her thoughts.

****

Connie flung herself towards Col, and held him tight. At first, he was startled, but returned the hug.

"You're okay," she sighed. Col took hold of her hand.

"Of course I am. I promised you, didn't I? But there's more important things than that at the moment. The Trustees are going to be in Hescombe soon, so we're going to need to get back to Evelyn's. Do you think that she could give us a lift?" he asked.

"It's okay, I can take us back. Besides, I forgot my mobile, so I can't call her." Col passed her his phone.

"Unfortunately, Michael has to come with us, so we can't go back that way. Here, we'd better head outside; you probably won't get coverage in here."

"Argand says his name the exact same way," Connie laughed as she keyed the number into Col's phone.

"About that, Connie, there's something I need to tell you." Connie ignored him; whether it was intentional or not, Col couldn't tell, as Evelyn had finally picked up the phone.

"Hi, Evelyn? Could you come and collect us from the hospital?" Connie cringed as Evelyn's tone of voice went up an octave, and held the phone at arm's length until Evelyn was finished. "No, nothing's wrong, Col and Michael just needed to be checked out, but they're both okay. Could you come and collect us?" After Connie hung up, Col tried for a second time to tell Connie about what Argand had realized.

"Connie, please, listen to me. Just before Kulevro attacked, Argand and I were talking about Michael. I told her about what had happened after she left, and Argand noticed something crucial. When Michael said…" Connie nudged him sharply with her elbow. Michael sat down in the cold metal seat beside them, and gave a silent wave.

"Hi, guys. It turns out that I'll just have a bruise tomorrow; nothing serious. What about you, Col? And did you and Aisling get back okay, Connie?" As there didn't stand much chance of Col answering him, Connie nodded.

"Yeah, we did. I left Cloudwings at the Masterson's for you- you can pick her up from there, if you want." They sat in silence for a few minutes until Evelyn's Citroen pulled into the car park. Once they had climbed into the car, Col tried to silently enter Connie's mind, but she had placed a barrier around it. He shot a pleading glance at her, hurt that she would use her shield against him. Hadn't she agreed with him that Michael was up to no good?

"Tell me later," she whispered, staring straight ahead. Col reluctantly ceased his attempts to try and enter her mind, knowing that it wouldn't make a difference.

"We can't put it off any longer. Their training needs to start immediately," Mr. Chan concluded. They had been sitting in the front room for over an hour, discussing Kulevro and the best defence against him. Michael had fallen asleep on the couch at the opposite end of the room, and was snoring softly. Col stubbornly kept his eyes open, knowing that if he could not tell Connie about it, he would have to tell one of the other Trustees once the meeting was over.

"Which part of it do you think is more important?" Connie asked.

"It's really important that they learn to use the tools of a universal, but they need to learn how to have encounters with other creatures first." Kinga replied. "I'd suggest that they should bond with their companions at the Masterson's farm tomorrow morning, and maybe learn a few of the more basic tools the day after." Michael let out a loud snore and turned over, landing on the floor with a bang. He was silent for a few moments, then started to snore again.

The following morning, Nick stood beside the old quarry, waiting for his companion to appear. The morning was humid and dim- a thick fog curled around everything, creating menacing silhouettes and the air tasted stale and damp. A spider dropped onto his hand, and he absentmindedly brushed it off, staring at the stocky black shadow that was coming towards him. The rock dwarf wore a long black cloak that shrouded him completely, hiding his features from view. It stopped directly in front of Nick, and sat down beside him.

"You are the universal, I assume." The rock dwarf spoke quietly, but power was evident in his deep tone. "Your encounter has been postponed. Gard can't make it here for a while. He has more… important things to deal with. I will be training you instead today." Nick had already encountered a rock dwarf before, so showed no hesitation in delving through the layers of stone to unearth his presence. This time, it felt different- he couldn't access the layers of the dwarf's mind, but was fully aware of him traipsing through his mind. Out of nowhere, he found himself falling, and collapsed into a sea of molten rock. A tiny rivulet of stone flowed upwards and curled around his hand, pulling him to the ground so that he was immersed in the dark, choking liquid stone. It stopped as suddenly as it had started, and he was in possession of his own body again, but with a strange new memory imprinted inside his mind that he knew did not belong to him. He couldn't prevent himself from mentally diving into the memory, and watched on, stunned, at the scene that unfolded before him.

It was the moor that Kulevro had held Aisling captive in, he knew that much, but it was almost completely indistinguishable from the quiet place he had seen in Aisling's memory. More mythical creatures than he could count were fighting furiously against each other, but the strangest thing was that he _knew _them. He could name each creature, even though he had never seen them before.

The memory began to focus in on the periphery of the moor- he did not need the memory's help to recognise the person who was fighting against Connie's companion, the golden dragon. Argand shot a fierce flame of fire towards him, and he collapsed in macabre slow motion. Nick was frozen to the spot, unable to move. He was not part of the memory- he couldn't change what had happened.

"_Dad," _he whispered. A loud screech jolted him out of the memory, and he unsteadily stood up. A long black cloak lay thrown in a heap beside a large rock, and a black hawk stood above it, eyeing Nick with chilling, asymmetric eyes. Kulevro took to the sky cackling in delight.

He had planted a seed of doubt towards the Society in Nick's head. Now, all he had to do was wait for it to grow.


	29. Promises

Sorry this took so long! And that this chapter is a little short, but I'm exhausted at the moment, so I'm afraid I don't really have the energy for anything more :S Next chapter will be longer, I promise! Thank you to;

**GreatWolf Fanatic:** Thank you! There's a miniscule amount of Connie-Col fluff (sorta) in this chapter; let's see who can spot it! :D

**Sparkleglitz01: **You seem to have disappeared! I really want to read the next chapter of Ride and Prejudice; any chance of an update?

**BrightCat: **You'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out! Can't give away anything more than that :D And same to you regarding updates :D

**Air Gemini Star:** Don't worry, it's almost over; like I said, it's ending on Chapter 32 :) There's still a little more conflict before the end!

**Angelmail: **Lol, I can't actually remember why you're no no noing! Oh wait.. now I do :D Was it really that long since I updated?!

**365 Pages of Awesomeness:** Here 'tis, albeit a little later than I had meant :) And as you'll see, he's found out how to get to Nick, anyhoo! :D

My two new reviewers:

**Serra123: **Thank you so much! It's lovely to get a new reviewer so near to the end of the story; like I said, I'll try to put lotsa plot into the last two chapters :D

**Rasbash: **Yep, I have a few CQ oneshots and I'm starting a new long story, Wrath of the Weather Giant as well :) I hope you get a chance to write something for CQ too!

and also to everyone who put me on faves or alerts! Although it's not exactly a review, I still appreciate it :) And welcome back to Angelmail, who is finally back from Spain!

* * *

_**Promises **_

Connie surveyed the barn curiously. Her two pupils and their companions were supposed to meet her there, but as of yet, Argand and Connie were the only ones there. A few minutes later, she heard a faint beating of hooves from outside and smiled; at least one of them had chosen to turn up.

Aisling dismounted from the unicorn before slowly pushing the barn door open, but retreated quietly once she saw that Nick and Gard weren't there yet. Raincolt pushed her gently towards the door and she fell towards it, having been taken by surprise by the prick of the young unicorn's horn. She followed her companion to a spot relatively near the door, and waved at Connie. Gard strode in soon after them, his hood thrown back to reveal his identity. A cool draught of air hit Aisling when the door opened, and she shivered. Raincolt drew a little closer to her, and settled down beside her, sheltering her from the cold air.

"Universal, have you seen my companion? He didn't come to the place where I had arranged to meet with him yesterday." A look of true concern crossed the rock dwarf's weather-beaten face, and Aisling felt a pang of sympathy towards him. Connie quickly stood up and crossed the room, then glanced outside anxiously.

"Aisling, do you have his number?" she asked, and Aisling nodded and held out her phone. The memory of when they had exchanged their numbers at the library flew through her mind, but the thought was fleeting. Connie raised her finger to hit the 'call' button, but it was unnecessary. Nick slipped in through the barn door, without so much as a greeting or acknowledgement, or even an apology for being late. He silently sat down beside Gard, but didn't look at his companion.

"Companion, where were you yesterday?" Gard asked quietly. Nick looked torn for a moment, but quickly composed himself. He didn't raise his voice, but he did not need to; the atmosphere was so hushed that if the proverbial pin had been dropped, it would have been the only sound to be heard.

"I was feeling sick." he answered. That much was believable; his face was pale and his voice weak. Connie debated on pressing the matter but let it drop, as there were more important things to be seen to.

"That will put you behind a bit, I'm afraid. Do you remember the shield, though?" she asked, hoping to ease the tense feeling in the room. Nick nodded. Ever since his encounter with Kulevro the day before, he had been practicing the barrier to his mind; he didn't want his secret to be discovered. Deep inside himself, part of him suggested that it would be a much better idea to own up, and tell the Society what had happened, but the tiny internal rebellion was soon quelled. He had been holding the shield up constantly since he had entered the barn, the reason behind his apparent 'illness'.

Connie closed her eyes and held out her hand to waist-length beside herself, and Argand shuffled up to it, ducking her head gracefully to ensure that Connie's outstretched hand rested on her back.

"Okay, then. Aisling, you covered that with Raincolt yesterday, didn't you?" she asked, and the young unicorn whinnied in agreement, choosing to speak for his companion. "We can move onto the helm then, and after that I'll show you how to use the bow and arrow- it'll be useful for you to know some attack skills as well as the basic defence." Connie plucked a curved shield from the air, but the only similarity between it and the basic shield was the compass emblem emblazoned on their iridescent surfaces. Aisling copied her motion, but only the fundamental shield materialized. Connie shook her head and her hand on Argand's back twitched slightly, and a look of realization dawned across Aisling's face. She dropped the shield and placed a hand on the head of the unicorn beside her and reached out her other hand, pulling a hazy helm from the air. Nick copied her movement, but when he reached out to touch Gard, the shield instantly sprang up. Connie looked at him quizzically. With an expression of assumed nonchalance, Nick, with great difficulty, opened only the foremost layers of his mind, while keeping his dark secret hidden in the shadows.

****

Connie watched her students exit the room, and sat down beside Argand, but stood up again rapidly when she heard her mobile ring. She pulled it out from her pocket and smiled, instantly recognizing Col's number. When she pressed answer, he didn't bother with a greeting.

"Connie, can I please talk to you about Michael now?" he asked, the urgent tone in his voice undiminished by the poor signal. Waiting a few moments for Nick and Aisling to leave, she walked outside.

"Col, I'm really sorry that I couldn't listen to you yesterday." At the other end of the line, Col sighed in relief; he had thought that Connie was upset with him.

"Why did you put up the shield when I tried to talk to you in the car?" he asked curiously. Connie bit her lip, knowing that Col might not be very pleased with her answer.

"I didn't mean to; I would have talked to you, only… I was trying to form a bond with Michael." She heard nothing from him, so decided to continue.

"Whatever is wrong with Michael, it has nothing to do with Kulevro. No mark, no mist… nothing." Col sighed again, this time a resigned one. Whatever his own opinion on Michael was, he would have to trust Connie's judgement.

After the lesson, the two new universals stumbled out of the barn, feeling completely exhausted. Both of them had bonded with all three creatures in the barn, to gain a better understanding of the outreach their gift had. Both had stored a fiery tongue of dragon's flame in their quiver; although their own companions were one of the most vital part of their training, the peaceful powers of a rock dwarf or unicorn wouldn't be much use against a nemesis as strong as the one they were up against. They trudged towards the farm gate, and Aisling tentatively glanced at Nick, but his face echoed that of his companion- like stone. She stepped quickly in front of him to face him, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Nick, is there something wrong? You seemed really listless today." The temporary wall that Nick had built inside crumbled, and he could not stop himself from speaking.

"I don't trust the Society. I don't trust Connie either. Her companion-" he broke off, trying to hold back a sob, "her companion killed my dad." Aisling didn't know what she had been expecting him to say, but it certainly wasn't this. He was now avoiding her eyes, instantly regretting telling her the secret, but she pressed on.

"What do you mean? How do you know that?" she asked softly, quickly revising the words in her head before she spoke them, as so not to cause him to become more upset. Nick continued to avert his eyes from hers, but mumbled what he had found out quickly, not trusting himself to dwell too much over the memory.

"My dad died three years ago in a car accident, according to my mum," he told her, the bitterness evident in his voice. "He was a companion too, but he wasn't in the Society. He was on Kullervo's side in the war, because he wanted to make the world a better place. After Kullervo was defeated, Mum was invited into the Society- she accepted. She was sick of the war. We've always moved from place to place, and now I know why. We were trying to escape the Society." Aisling hesitantly opened her mouth, but Nick anticipated the question before it came. "Kulevro told me." he said shortly, and pushed past her. She refused to let him go any further and grabbed his arm, preventing him from moving.

"Nick, you have to tell someone," she whispered. He laughed bitterly.

"I've told you, haven't I?" he replied. He tried to prise her hand from his arm, but she refused to let go.

"You know what I mean. Tell the Trustees, or Dr. Brock, or even your mum! I haven't been in the Society for long, but I can already tell that Kulevro isn't the right side to choose. Remember what he did to me?" she continued pleadingly. Nick couldn't stop the memory of the sight of Aisling, pale and still, from crossing his mind, but he banished it quickly.

"I'll think about it," he replied quietly. "Do you promise you won't tell anyone until I decide?" Aisling wanted to say no; she knew that it would be a bad idea to keep it a secret. However, the intensity in his eyes brought only one answer.

"I promise."


	30. Secrets

**A/N:** Sorry that this took so long, but in fairness, it's one of the longer chapters :D Thanks to my reviewers:

_**365 Pages of Awesomeness:**_ Lol, more of it is to come :)

**_Air Gemini Star: _**Comhgairdeachas, you were the only one to get it, lol! And really?! Thank you so much! :D Check out the A/N at the bottom in answer to your question :)

_**Angelmail:**_ Hehe, whoops :) Thanks for pointing out the typo, lol!

**_BrightCat: _**Yes, it is insane :) And they're not evil- you'll have to wait and see what will happen with that :)

_**xpskl:**_ Thank you :) Didn't know that you were reading this story too, lol!

_**sparkleglitz01:**_ Great to have you back :) Even more complications shall arise in this chapter, lol!

_**Serra123: **_I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story- thank you so much for the reviews and PM :)

Special thanks to Mia who reminded me to update :D Hope the GCSE results turn out okay for you!

* * *

_**Secrets**_

The chill of evening had stolen unexpectedly over Hescombe, and a brisk sea breeze blew in from the nearby shore. Wisps of dark clouds were beginning to form on the horizon, encouraging anybody who remained outside to return to their homes as a shower of rain threatened to fall. As Aisling was staying with Connie, Evelyn had offered her a ride back to the house, but after what she had just heard, she preferred to keep her own company.

Despite the fact that she desperately wanted to let someone know about Kulevro, she couldn't let Nick down- not after she had promised him that she wouldn't tell. Lost in her own anxious thoughts, she didn't notice as the first raindrops fell around her. After one large droplet of water fell from a tree branch overhanging the branch and unexpectedly pelted her on the nose, she looked up in surprise. Suddenly realizing where she had been heading towards, she took several steps back- she did not want to revisit that moor again.

The rain began to fall a little harder and faster, so she decided to return to the Masterson's rather than continue on to Shaker Row. Nick's house was a good deal closer, but she couldn't face speaking to him just yet. Her new power had brought her nothing but trouble. Aisling thought momentarily of the book she had gotten from the library before any of this had happened. It couldn't have been further from the truth. She wondered what would have happened if neither of them had become part of the Society. There would have been no terrible secrets, no attacks or abductions… and no Kulevro.

An equine silhouette flitted across the wall beside her. Her heart began to thump wildly in panic before recognizing the presence as her companion. She rested a hand on Raincolt's side in relief.

"You scared me," she sighed quietly. The unicorn turned his head to look at her, revealing wide, anxious eyes.

"You shouldn't be out here alone, companion. There's been more stone sprite disturbance. Climb on- I'll bring you back to the farm." Aisling tried to imagine what a stone sprite would be like, and came up with the mental image of a combination of a rock dwarf and the ethereal, delicate fairies and sprites from picture books she had read when she was younger. Come to think of it, she wouldn't be surprised if they existed too.

"What happened, exactly?" she asked, while struggling to climb onto the unicorn's back. Raincolt gave her a small nudge with his nose and she managed to seat herself fairly comfortably. She leaned forwards and grasped at his mane gently- she still was a little unused to riding without a saddle.

"Not now. I'll tell you everything when we get back." These words made Aisling feel a little guilty- she only wished that she could do the same.

A few minutes later, she dismounted from Raincolt's back and entered her companion's stall. An extension had been built onto the back of the farm to facilitate the many mythical creatures who had a companion in the Chartmouth Chapter- the small branch of the Society had grown immensely since it had become the proud focal point of the Society's most powerful universal.

Aisling sat on the ground amongst the straw, and Raincolt curled up beside her like an abnormally large dog.

"So, what happened with the stone sprites, then?" The unicorn tilted his head to one side slightly.

"I'm not sure what exactly it is they do, but it has something along the lines of blocking the presence of other creatures, overwhelming them by sheer numbers to make them virtually undetectable." He paused gravely. "It's a form of disguise that's been used before, but we've only known Kullervo to do it. It means that there's a very high chance that Kulevro has decided to come to Hescombe again." When Aisling did not react to this news, he looked at her curiously. "You don't seem worried by it. Why?"

Aisling sighed- there was no use in trying to hide it to her companion.

"Raincolt, you have to promise that you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you." He paused for a moment, on the verge of answering, then shook his head firmly.

"I can't promise." Aisling stood up and brushed the straw from her clothes and moved to walk towards the door, but was blocked by Raincolt standing in front of the door.

"Fine, I won't tell anyone. Now, what is it?" He wasn't too pleased with having to make this promise, but there was no other way to persuade his companion to share her troubles with him. Aisling made her way back to the corner of the stall and lowered herself down to the ground. She reached out her mind to form a bond with the unicorn, and he immediately accepted it. She poured a rapid river of thoughts into her companion's mind, and he absorbed them effortlessly. Raincolt looked pensive for a moment, then scared, then sympathetic. The astral unicorn trotted over to his companion and laid his head gently on her shoulder.

"Companion, this is a very dangerous secret to keep. Why can't you tell anyone?" Aisling's answer was barely audible, even as a thought.

"I promised." she whispered. "I promised him that I wouldn't tell, and if I break the promise, he'll just hate me even more." Raincolt could sense her conflicted thoughts, and did not want to add to them, but he knew that he needed to help her find the courage to tell someone who could do something to help, or at least confront Nick about it.

"I'm not going to force you to do anything, companion, but you need to make a choice. Which is more important; keeping your promise or preventing Kulevro from getting even stronger? I know that you feel something for Nick, but that shouldn't-" Aisling interrupted him defensively.

"I do not! He's my friend, I just don't want to betray him!" The thin membrane of the encounter began to waver- somebody else was trying to break through.

"Quick, the shield!" Raincolt whinnied. Aisling snatched the shield from her side and held it above herself and the unicorn frantically, but their defences were crumbling fast. A silver figure stepped through and Raincolt sighed in relief- it was only Connie. Aisling was not quite as relieved- what if she had heard about Kulevro? She felt even more apprehensive as Connie approached and her expression became visible. As Aisling had never known Connie to be anything less than composed, her terrified face was even more nerve-wracking.

"Aisling, I need you to come with me," she said tensely. Aisling shot an uneasy look at Raincolt, but he gestured with a bow of his head that she should follow. She broke off the encounter and saw Connie standing in front of her, and she got to her feet hastily, and followed Connie out of the stall. They walked in silence for a few moments until they came to a wide gate in place of a stall, and she paused for a moment to open the latch.

"The pegasus stalls are in this courtyard," Connie explained as the gate swung open. Aisling was mystified by this; what reason could be behind going to the pegasus stalls?

The dark sky cast distinct shadows in the courtyard, making it easily discernable that only one of the stable doors swung open- it was this stall that they were heading towards. An indistinct mumbling could be heard as they reached it, and a second voice trying to soothe it. There were no horses inside the stall- instead, its only occupants were two blonde teenagers. Shirley looked up when she heard Connie enter, and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"He's feeling a little better now, I think. You can bring him into the house when you're finished talking to him; he's staying here tonight." She rose fluidly and left the barn, and Aisling watched her leave in surprise.

"Well, that was out of character," she murmured, and Connie nodded distractedly.

"She's calmed down since Michael was the one to comfort her when Col…" she broke off and blushed slightly, changing the subject. "He won't talk to anyone else- he said he'll tell you about it, though." The next part she whispered, in case Michael overheard. "It could be a trap- I'll be outside if anything happens." When Aisling looked at her quizzically, she finished, "Hopefully, Michael will explain everything." She watched Connie leave and finally turned to where Michael had been sitting. She let out a quiet yelp when she felt a hand grasp her shoulder.

"Quick- before he comes back. You have to listen to me. I tried to tell you before, that time in the woods, but he broke through again- I'm so sorry! But now I have to tell you, or it'll be too late!" Aisling took a step back, slightly scared by the terror in his grey eyes, and he groaned, placing a hand on his forehead.

"I know- you shouldn't trust me, not after what I did, but this really is me! It's not him this time!"

"What do you mean? What did you do?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'm so sorry- it wasn't really me!" he babbled. "He took over me, and he made me tell Gard that the encounter was postponed, and-" Aisling took a step towards him, her eyes blazing.

"So you were the one who let Kulevro get to him!" He shook his head frantically.

"No, not me!" His eyes flashed momentarily, but the transition was slow enough for Aisling to catch sight of. One red, one blue. She backed away slowly and opened her mouth to scream, but he placed a hand over her mouth, forcing her to encounter him, and her mental self fell into a dark, raging sea. She struggled to stay afloat in the tide, and plucked her shield from the air and moulded it around herself. A voice like thunder echoed through the sea.

"So, a second secret for you, universal. Let's see if you can keep this one too," Kulevro chuckled darkly. Aisling struggled to stay afloat, but raised her voice in defiance.

"What makes you think that I'll keep it a secret?" she answered, sounding a lot stronger than she felt.

"Oh, you'll keep it a secret. You are no use to me any more- the other universal is within my grasp, and it will be much easier to have him trust me. I have followers stationed in a small woods that you might know," an image of Rua's woods flashed across the sky, "and I have spies stationed throughout the Society. If you try telling _anyone,_ I will know." With that, the encounter was broken off, and she was sent tumbling from Kulevro's mind. She awoke to find herself sprawled on the floor of the stall, and Michael, under the control of Kulevro, pulled her roughly to her feet.

"Remember, I _will know."_


	31. Protection

**A/N: **I'm still alive! My goodness, it must have been around three months since my last update… whoops :) As always, thanks to my reviewers;

**Angelmail: **Hooray! I saved a life, lol!

**CopyCatsHurtfulKisses: **Do you still hate Michael now? :)

**GreatWolf Fanatic: **Well, I'm glad that you liked that part, anyway :)

**Sparkleglitz01: **This chapter is finally up :) I wish I could write as fast as you do, lol!

**leafaim: **Just wondering, when will you update? I'd love to see where your story goes next :D

**AirGeminiStar: **Lol, that's still a work in progress- the plot won't really be introduced until chapter 4 :) I'd love to read your story! Send me the link, if you can :)

**The Befuzzled Lemur: **Enjoy your teabag, then!

* * *

**Protection**

The vicious expression gradually faded from Michael's face, and Aisling felt a small prick of hope- maybe, somehow, he had managed to subdue the shape shifter that was controlling him. However, the hope was short-lived; Michael shook his head in mock pity.

"You're still stuck with me, I'm afraid," an unpleasant voice whispered in Aisling's mind. She began to panic- could Kulevro have changed his mind, and left his mark on her instead? She instantly berated herself for being so selfish; she should not have felt relief when the dark tide slithered reluctantly from her mind. If Kulevro decided to go for the easier option, Nick would be safe.

"Too late, Universal. You had your chance." Michael hissed. It seemed like he was about to say something else, but a quiet knock sounded on the door, not giving him the chance to speak again. Aisling found herself hoping that Connie had overheard- she would no longer be forced to carry the burden of the twisted secrets she had been entrusted with. She risked throwing a beseeching glance at Connie, but her face was impassive, revealing no sign of shock or distress.

"Thanks for calming him down," she whispered to Aisling. "Are you ready to tell me what happened yet, Michael?" Aisling's hopes immediately plummeted.

"Don't waste your breath," Kulevro jeered. "Of course she hasn't heard anything. Do you really think I'd be that stupid? Give me a bit more credit than that." Aisling clutched her forehead and rested against the stable wall to steady herself against the attack on her mind.

_Get out of my head!_ she screamed mentally, drawing on her shield to expel the unwanted presence from her mind, but it merely passed right through the black shadowy mist wafting through the corridors and passageways of her mind.

Connie's expression was now a little worried, and she looked at Aisling, concerned.

"Are you all right?" she asked. Aisling nodded unwillingly.

"Headache," she gasped, and pushed past Connie into the cool, crisp autumn night.

A solitary star shone bravely out through a dark sky, failing to emit more than a faint glow over the fields below. That was how she felt- closed off to the many shining lights of the Society, without which her gift would mean nothing. The one place where she had ever fitted in, and she had already betrayed them by agreeing to Kulevro to stay silent, but no matter how much it repulsed her, she had to keep that promise.

No matter how much the Society meant to her, she couldn't put her own family at risk.

****

The following morning swept away all physical traces of the previous night's events. An early sunrise had dried up the puddles of rain gathered on the cobble-lock ground, and the stall where Michael's black pegasus had been kept had been cleared out completely, although the straw that had been taken from it had not been replaced and its door was left swinging open. Col dwelled on that fact as he walked towards Skylark's stall- if the pegasus was no longer there, chances were that neither was the companion.

The stable door beside Skylark's stall was also open, and he stopped to examine the door plate to see who else had decided to take an early morning ride. Unable to decipher the name on the door, he glanced inside the stall. A silver pegasus that he would have recognized anywhere was asleep on a pile of straw in the corner.

"Connie!" he whispered loudly. "Are you awake?" The pegasus' eyes flickered open, and brightened when they saw Col standing in the doorway. Connie's form dispersed quickly into a cloud of silver haze and shot across the room to reassemble into her usual human form.

"I was too tired to fly home last night," she explained apologetically. "So I just stayed in one of the stalls." Col shook his head disapprovingly.

"Connie, you need to take better care of yourself. Why couldn't you stay at the Masterson's? I'm sure that they would have had a spare bed for you." Connie rolled her eyes contemptuously.

"I think I'd prefer to take my chances in a pegasus stall." she replied light-heartedly. "Do you have a watch on you, Col? I need to give another lesson at ten."

"You still have fifteen minutes. Where were you yesterday? I called around to the house, but Evelyn told me that you were off with the Trustees on an urgent meeting." Connie's flinch did not go unnoticed, but she tried to wave it aside.

"It was nothing important," she tried. Col did not even need to say anything- his sceptical gaze was enough. Connie sighed softly.

"It's a long story," she confessed quietly. Col took her hand in his and led her to a wooden bench outside the stalls, where she took a seat without protest.

"Why don't you just tell me the basics, then," he encouraged gently. After checking that nobody was present, she quietly began to explain the meeting.

"There's good news and bad news," she whispered. "The bad news is the stone sprites."

"Again?" Col asked. "The same as the last time?" She nodded.

"We're not sure exactly why, but there's a lot of stone sprite interference on the moors again. We haven't confirmed what they're hiding yet, but it's something big- I'd guess that Kulevro is a lot closer than we had initially thought. So our problem now is to find out what they're hiding, and how best to attack. We're going to need to round up the Society's forces." she ended despondently.

Col's heart went out to her; he knew how much she hated confronting renegade forces- creatures that they should be protecting- and risking other members of the Society to capture them.

"And the good news?"

"It has to do with Michael, actually." She hesitated to gauge his reaction, but when he said nothing, she continued tentatively.

"You were right, he was under Kulevro's control, but he managed to break free from it last night. He hasn't seen his family in months- Kulevro took him from them and began his training, forged a companionship between him and one of his most devoted pegasi, and smuggled him into the Washington branch of the Society, setting up two selkies in the roles of parents. Kulevro had trained him well- he's a very good rider, you can't deny that- so he got a place on the national team, which made it only natural that he was transferred to the English team when his 'parents' moved to England." Connie shook her head. "I hate to say it, but Kulevro really thought this one through."

"So, what's happened to him now?" Col wondered aloud. "Michael, not Kulevro."

"He's staying at the Masterson's until we can think of a way to contact his real family. It's almost like his memory has been wiped clean- he can't remember anything from his real life, before he was taken. He'll need a new companion as well now that we know that Cloudwings was the real traitor."

Col ran his thumb across Connie's fingers, still entwined in his own.

"If you're free after the lesson, do you want to come for a ride with Skylark and I? You really need a chance to wind down- I'm worried about you, Connie. You're putting yourself under far too much stress."

"Sounds good," she smiled. "I'll see you later, then. Outside Skylark's stall or the training arena?" Col thought for a moment.

"The training arena. I was about to go train with Skylark anyway. I'll meet you there at eleven, okay?"

Connie didn't reply, just smiled and gently disentangled her hand from Col's.

"I'll see you at eleven, then," Col called after her as she walked towards the barn. "Don't forget!"

"I promise I'll be there!" she called back, looking over her shoulder. Col watched her retreating figure until she turned the corner and he could no longer see her, although he continued to sit on the bench, quietly treasuring the warmth her hand had given to him.


	32. Silence

**_A/N: _**Oh my gosh- I'm so sorry I went so long without updating! It has to be at least half a year, at this point :S But I'm back now, and hopefully I won't disappear again until I finish this. This one's a short one, just to help me get back into the swing of things- but it's more of an interlogue than anything else- the plottyishness will return next chapter! And yup, I'm afraid there will be a few more- I have a short little plot twist that needs to be carried out before the story reaches its end :)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and/or pestered me to finish the story; **_Ninja Melting Hydrogen, xpskl, GreatWolf Fanatic, CopyCatsHurtfulKisses, Companion to Darling Summers_** (Hmm, I'm curious now, lol!), _**3 macky-w 3, SapphireOceans, T,**_ and especially _**Angelmail **_and _**Marie**_, who convinced me to finally update!

Three off the two hundred mark; any way we can achieve that before the story ends? Oh, and this is

_**IMPORTANT- **_you might want to check the A/N at the beginning of Chapter One- it'll explain a few things :)

* * *

_**Silence**_

Nick was panting heavily as he skidded to a stop beside Aisling. She looked at him suspiciously, in silent askance of an explanation to his delay.

"What's the look for?" he asked defensively. "I wasn't doing anything wrong. I just took a _shortcut _that Rat suggested- see if I'll ever do that again." Aisling studied his expression- he wasn't acting like he had anything to hide. He read her silence as acceptance of his answer, and didn't see reason to explain himself any further.

The uneasy quiet between them grew in intensity, putting up a barrier of tension between the two. Aisling didn't notice, her thoughts otherwise occupied. It was strange- how Nick could go from being one of the few people that she trusted with her life, to someone that whose every word and gesture she needed to analyze, in anticipation of his secret treachery to the Society that had done so much for her- for both of them.

The silence was beginning to become more than Nick could bear. "So, will we head down to the barn, then? I bet Connie's been there for ages," he tried. Aisling didn't trust herself to answer aloud, and instead gave a barely perceptible nod, and waited for him to step ahead of her. When he didn't, she walked ahead, without looking back. He reached out to put a hand on her, but she shook it off angrily, avoiding the pleading glance he sent her by keeping her gaze turned firmly downwards. Nick gave up- if she didn't want to talk to him, there was no point in forcing a conversation from her.

As they walked down the dusty path, the silence was gradually filled by the sounds of the busy farmyard, lending a slight ease to the reticence. One of the farmhands, carting a wheelbarrow filled to the brim with crisp, sweet-smelling straw, gave them a friendly wave, and Aisling's spirits lifted a little.

She cast a backwards glance at Nick, who was trailing sadly behind her. There was no point in continuing the silent treatment that she was imposing on him- she would stand more of a chance of helping him if she just continued to be his friend. If he could trust her, then surely, eventually, she would be able to convince him to trust somebody else with his encounter- someone who could actually help. It wasn't his fault that he had been targeted- somehow, Kulevro had known exactly how to turn him against the Society, whether the thoughts that he had projected into Nick's mind were true or not.

Suddenly, Aisling felt horrible- she had been a terrible friend. She couldn't even remember why she had held him at fault for it in the first place. She had just felt so angry- and she had blamed him for it. She slowed down her brisk pace, allowing Nick to catch up.

"Hey, Nick? How's your training been going?" she queried, deducing that a generic topic like that would be her best chance at trying to rebuild their friendship. If Nick was surprised at her sudden change of attitude, he didn't show it, and quickly came up with an answer.

"It's been fantastic. Gard and I spent a night down at the moor last Saturday- the sky was really clear, so we were able to see all the stars. Gard knew a lot about them, actually."

"Really? He always seems so grounded- excuse the pun." Nick chuckled, and Aisling couldn't help smiling in response- it had been too long since she had heard his laugh. It was the same laugh that she had heard that first day in the library that she had met him- at least that much hadn't changed about him. But as they walked, she studied him as inconspicuously as she could- really, what had changed? He had been hurt by what Kulevro had shown him, but that would pass.

As Nick began to speak again, she realized that this moment, too, would pass- and she hadn't felt as comfortable around him in a long time. She returned her thoughts to the present- she wanted to live through this moment.

"I was a bit surprised, too. But there's a connection between everything- I could feel it when I encountered him. I could feel the stars." He trailed off thoughtfully. "It makes you wonder…" They walked on in silence for a few moments, but the prior tension seemed to have melted, like the thaw that fell across a spring day. Still… Aisling was curious.

"Wonder what?" Nick didn't answer her- not verbally, at least. The corners of his mouth turned up in a soft smile, and their hands silently found each other. They kept on walking.

* * *

A shadow crept silently along the cavernous hallways, with a tread as silent as a cat- too inaudible to arouse any echoing, phantom-like footsteps in response. The hesitation present in his stance wasn't because he was unsure of his direction- he knew exactly where he was going. He merely needed to ascertain whether or not it was safe to go there.

The building was all but abandoned- it was very unlikely that he would be caught. Reassuring himself with this thought, he resumed his journey. It wouldn't be too difficult- the guard would be easily dealt with, once it came to it. He gave a gulp. Hopefully.

As he neared his destination, a door closed with a click from somewhere in the distance, and odd, rhythmical tapping began to echo along the halls. It took him a few, confused seconds to realize that the sound was somebody's _shoes- _and this person was making no secret about their presence there. He stole quietly around a corner, and into a narrow, carpeted corridor, waiting for the noise to pass.

The person was coming closer and closer- he pressed himself in against the wall, his dark clothes merging slightly into the shadow cast on the wall by a large tapestry. If the person didn't come too close, he would be safe. The noise changed- now instead of a tapping, a soft thump replaced it. He stopped breathing. The other person had entered the corridor.

He ran through his options quickly- either he could make a run for it and risk being heard, or stay where he was and risk being found. He didn't need to make the decision. There was a loud rustle of papers and the sound of something dropping on the floor, followed by a frustrated huff, and the other person (who he had now deduced to be a man) left.

He now knew that his purpose in coming here had to be abandoned- ignoring the voice screaming at him to turn around, to resume his mission, his first priority was now to escape the building that he had entered. It wasn't safe to carry out the intent now. Not tonight.

He skidded towards the end of the corridor, his mind focused more on speed than silence for the time being. The noise had come from the right… but if he headed left, then there was nowhere for him to hide- nothing but a stretch of a bare hallway. There was a small concave adjacent to his current hiding spot, covered by yet another tapestry- but the gaping hole behind it was evident. He dashed towards it and slipped underneath the heavy material to find himself in a completely new passageway- but the footsteps were now coming towards him. And this time, they were a lot closer.

He wasn't given the chance to run away- a stern frown appeared on the other person's face. He flinched- he had tried not to give much thought to what would happen, should he get caught, but he assumed, correctly, that the man would be angry.

The man was furious.

"Young man, you'd better have a very good explanation for this."

* * *

_**A/N: So, can anyone guess what the last few paragraphs meant? Who, what (the other who), where? Leave your guesses in a review- if you get all three right, you win a virtual Pegasus :D**_


	33. Ruses

**_A/N:_** Comhgairdeachas mór don_** Ellie**_ (Mbali97), who was the only one to guess the last few paragraphs in the last chapter! Indeed; 'twas Michael and Old Coddy in the Society HQ! *hands over virtual pegasus* Big thanks to all my other reviewers, though- Angelmail, Dustin, Silver cat 777, Frozen Smoke, Auburn Waves and YAHHA; all your lovely comments were greatly appreciated :)

**_This is a post in connection with Project PULL, a venture started by Bookaholic711, in which you write one new post, consisting of a thousand words or over, every Friday fortnight :D

* * *

_**

_**Ruses**_

Michael froze, and a dazed expression stole over his features briefly before once again hardening into a calm resolve as steady as the foundations of the sturdy stone building they stood in. A spark of colour flashed within the depths of his dark eyes, but the dimly lit fluorescent lamps that lined the ceiling of the little-used corridor ensured that the change barely perceptible.

Mr. Coddrington led him through the labyrinthine maze of corridors, and through the courtyard where Michael accidentally trod in a thick puddle of mud, before coming to a heavy oak door, ornamented with a single plaque that stated that the office belonged to 'I. Coddrington'. He took a seat at the far end of the room on a leather office chair, behind a neatly ordered antique ebony desk. He frowned in disapproval as Michael's feet left a trail of filthy, soggy footprints across the staid beige carpet. The only other seats in the room were a series of plain brown plastic chairs hidden in the corner. Mr. Coddrington waited until Michael was seated, and then tapped his foot impatiently, the stern scowl not lifting so much as a single degree from the corners of his mouth and around his eyes.

"Well? Master Marr, I'm waiting." He reached into the pocket of his crumpled grey suit jacket and pulled out a slim black mobile, and flipped it open so that the numerical keypad was visible. "If you don't explain what your business is here in the next thirty seconds, I _will _contact the Trustees. They never take too kindly to intruders in the headquarters, regardless of whether they are in the Society or not."

Appearing unfazed by the threat that the assessor had just delivered to him, Michael took his time in deliberating on his response. In reality, Kulevro was surveying the map that was pinned to the board behind the assessor. Despite the many spies he had stationed in different branches worldwide, new universals had become a closely-guarded secret within their own Chapters after the events of the latest revelations to the Company of the Universals.

His original intention in infiltrating the building was to discover whether any more universals were available to recruit, and the board looked like it would be his only means of discovering it. The only problem was, given the dim lighting and his distance from the board, he could barely distinguish the position of each pin, let alone the silver colour that would indicate the presence of a universal. He quickly realized that he would need to stall the assessor while he thought through his options.

"Perfect. Could you call Connie, please? I need to talk to her about something." Mr. Coddrington's patronizing stance lessened somewhat, and his shoulders slumped forwards, ever so slightly, in the beginnings of surrender. He had not suspected the pegasi companion (a mere teenager!) to see past his ruse. Nevertheless, he continued on in his bluster- if nothing else, he harboured a vague curiosity as to how the boy would try to extricate himself from any blame, in the same manner of fascination as a spider would watch a trapped fly's fruitless attempts at escape from a tangled spider web.

"What would you have to say to the Trustees? Miss Lionheart has more important things to do with her time than deal with a lovestruck teenager's amorous advances. The Trustees have more important things to do than worry about inconsequential things like that, especially given the present conditions…" Mr. Coddrington did not continue, blissfully unaware that the rising of Kulevro was an open secret- amongst the Chartmouth Chapter, at least.

"It's more important than that," Michael snapped, snatching the phone from Mr. Coddrington's grasp, and scrolling through the contact list. Frozen with shock at Michael's sheer audacity, the assessor said nothing. "Do you really think I'd bother them with something that pointless? This is urgent." He snapped the phone shut, and shot Mr. Coddrington a triumphant smirk.

"You don't even have the Trustee's phone numbers on here- not any of them." Mr. Coddrington snapped back to life, and seized his phone.

"I have their numbers- they're just not on that phone," he defended, his mind blank of a more scathing response. "They're in my address book… somewhere…" He rummaged through the previously spotless drawers of his desk, pulling apart neatly ordered assessing sheets and sending embossed call cards flying, determined to prove himself right.

Kulevro was enjoying himself immensely. Verbal taunting was something that he had perfected over the years, preferring it greatly over the required niceties of persuasion and forced empathy that gained and kept his followers, and his father's followers before him.

He was vaguely aware of the fact that if he wound the weather giant companion up too far, he would not gain any assistance from him, but temporarily ignored the niggling thought, overpowering it with the heady recklessness of power that the harsh words gave him.

"You know, your contact list is a bit sad-looking, really. You don't seem to have many friends, do you?" Mr. Coddrington's face went through a rapid cycle of colours, from a constricted pale white to flushed embarrassment, and finally settled on the deep scarlet of intense rage. Kulevro winced, but the expression did not register on Michael's outer countenance- he had not intended to rile him up quite that much. He'd get nothing out of the assessor if he was in that state.

"New phone?" he asked conversationally. Mr. Coddrington's anger leached away slowly, and was gradually replaced with an almost comical bewilderment.

"New… phone?" he asked suspiciously, puzzled by the boy's unexplainable shift in attitude.

"Yeah- it happens all the time. You get a new phone? Lose the contacts?" Finally getting the point, Mr. Coddrington clutched at the straw of redemption that Michael had offered.

"Yes, of course. New phone," he muttered. The words finally triggered the bones of what could be a semi-adequate response- why didn't the boy call to ensure that the Trustees were there before coming?

"You've yet to explain how you ended up here, though. Why didn't you contact the building first? There's always somebody manning the phones- you wouldn't have wasted your journey." Kulevro was beginning to feel quite frustrated- the only way he could get to that board was if the interfering weather giant companion left the room.

"There was no time. When Cloudwings found out, she came to me in the middle of the night, and we literally flew straight here. I told you already, it's urgent!" An idea slowly trickled into his consciousness- although his excuse of needing to talk to the Trustees had been nothing but a ploy, if there was an emergency big enough… like the possession of one of the trainee Universals by his own forces… Coddrington would have no choice but to contact the Trustees.

"They're all gone- they're in Scotland at the moment, dealing with a troublesome coven of banshees. Whatever it is will have to wait, unless… Well, I'm a former Trustee. Whatever it is, you can tell me, and I'll pass the message on when I can contact them," he suggested. "Yes, that's probably the best thing to do." His hands, hidden under the desk, clutched a faded red leather address book, but he wasn't planning on revealing that.

"Well, tell them that they need to redirect their attentions to Hescombe. Nick's been taken over by Kulevro," Michael replied shortly.

Mr. Coddrington turned alarmingly pale, and gave an audible gulp. Without bothering to reply, he pulled the address book out from its hiding place, and strode from the room.

"Hello, Kinga?" Kulevro heard him inquire tremulously. "I've got some bad news, I'm afraid…" The door shut with a click. Wanting to waste no time, Kulevro leapt up from the chair, and quickly examined the pins dotted on the board.

Apart from the predicted four in England, there was a surprising number of them. One silver pin was positioned in southern India, a second on the west coast of Australia, a third in central Europe, and five final silver pins intermittently dotted the continent of North America. He pulled a similar map and a marker from his pocket, and studied the world map again.

He placed seven red crosses, like murder marks, in each allotted destination, before quietly leaving the room.


	34. Despair

_**A/N: **_Ugh, I know. I'm hopeless! I haven't updated this in ages, but I can tell you right now, there's going to be two more chapters after this one before CotU (finally) comes to a close! A lot of things are going to happen in this chapter- be warned. This is another PPP **(Project Pull Post), **set up by **Bookaholic711** :)

Dedicated to my fantastic reviewers; _**Angelmail, Mbali97, Kateyx and Dommy who's a dummy**_- thank you so much, guys!

_**Despair**_

A coal-black hawk bolted through the air, scattering a terrified flock of sparrows. Kulevro was determined to reach his destination before the inevitable letter arrived. Though his faux pas at the Society had been irritating at the time, there was a strong possibility that he could twist the outcome around to his favour, as easily as pulling a loose thread from a garment to unravel it. The Universals were the key threads that the cloth of the Society was now structured around, and if he held one of them in his power, the Society could be torn apart as easily as a threadbare old tea towel.

The Trustees had no doubt sent out a letter to the new male universal, investigating the claim that he was associated with the shape-shifter. Once the claim was proved false, not only would the source who had planted the information fall under suspicion, but higher security measures would be implemented, making it almost impossible to draw one of the Universals to himself. In his powerful claws, he held an almost identical letter, complete with the wax seal and official stamp, which he had stolen from Coddrington's office under the guise of Michael. The only problem was the small matter of switching the two letters before his target had the chance to read the original copy.

* * *

The letter in question currently sat on the wooden tabletop of the Cony's kitchen, buried under a plethora of wires and screws. Nick was attempting, unsuccessfully, to resolve a problem with the fuse of their new kettle, and was shaking his hand ruefully after stabbing his wrist with the pointed end of the screwdriver. A dog's frenzied barking a couple of doors down wasn't helping matters much. Wolf was less than impressed with one of Rat's newer recruits, a badger with a broken leg, who kept getting spooked by the constant whirring of the wind turbines. The Alsatian's constant howls masked the sound of the front door's handle being pressed down, and Nick did not hear Kulevro enter the house.

Nick recoiled instinctively when the black rock dwarf clasped its hand on his shoulder, and brought his arm back to hit the unknown assailant over the head with his screwdriver. His wrist was caught by a second stone hand before it met its target, and Nick dropped the improvised weapon, the craggy feel of the rock recognizable.

"Gard? What are you doing here?" he asked, and the rock dwarf's grip upon him loosened.

"Guess again," a horribly familiar voice intoned. It was the same voice that had narrated his dreams since his encounter with Kulevro- garish infernos fed by the flames of a thousand golden dragons, focused upon a funeral pyre that he was forced to watch over and over again every time he closed his eyes.

"Kulevro," Nick acknowledged coldly, a statement rather than a question. "What are you doing here?"

"Making you an offer." Kulevro relinquished his hold on Nick's shoulder, and allowed him to turn around. He gestured towards the kitchen table, where the letter was still lying, although it was now visible through the miscellaneous collection of cables. A silver screw fell off the table, landing with a soft 'ping' on the ground. "I assume you've read that?"

Nick shook his head. "Not that it's any of your business, but no. I haven't read it yet." Kulevro wordlessly slid the letter out from underneath the wires and placed it into his hands.

"Open it, then." Nick looked at him suspiciously, but followed the instruction he had been given. Upon reading the first line, he promptly dropped it.

Nick sat down shakily, and picked up the letter, forcing himself to read it. He double checked the first line- there had to be some sort of mistake. The letter couldn't be meant for him- but it was written clearly, in block capitals,

'Nick Cony,

You are hereby placed under arrest for conspiring against the Society. Measures have been set in place to ensure that you do not leave Hescombe. These measures will be strictly enforced. Do not attempt escape, or we will have no choice but to enforce them.

Your trial will be held on May 16th, where you will have the opportunity to appeal this decision. You are also under strict house arrest until this date.'

Underneath followed the signatures of all four human Trustees, and the official Society crest.

As Nick stared at the letter in disbelief, the words disintegrated into meaningless patterns and splotches. He angrily crumpled it up, and hurled it at the wall. The force with which he threw it caused it to collide with the open plug of the kettle, and a loose spark ignited the crumpled paper. Kulevro extinguished it easily by placing his hand down upon it and squashing the flame out of existence, but Nick did not notice.

"This isn't fair," he murmured tonelessly. "I didn't do anything, and I don't even get so much as a hearing to defend myself?" Kulevro shook his head in mock sympathy.

"Society rules. Anybody over fifteen has to follow official court proceedings. Well, that's bureaucracy for you." Of course, the letter had been false- no such rule existed within the Society. He had been counting on Nick's lack of knowledge of Society rules, and had not been disappointed. He dropped the scorched paper into the sink, where it hissed loudly and sent up a small spiral of smoke.

"Although you're wrong about one thing. They do have grounds for doing this." His heavy footsteps on the kitchen tiles reverberated around the room, as he paced back and forth musingly. "Although how they found out about your association with us is beyond me, because I know you haven't told-"

Nick stood up angrily to face the rock dwarf, without noting the look of cruel amusement in its mismatched eyes.

"I never associated with you. That's a lie." Kulevro laughed heartlessly, the sound chilling.

"You'd be lying if you said that at your _trial._" He said the word mockingly, trying to goad the universal further. "You never told anybody what happened that day. A lie of omission is still a lie."

"That's where you're wrong. I told A…" Nick trailed off, a look of horror on his face, and Kulevro smiled a thin, callous smile.

"Well, that's your answer then, isn't it? Nobody else could have told the Trustees." Nick abruptly turned his back on the shape shifter and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. He punched a phone number into his mobile viciously, and waited for the other end of the line to pick up.

"Hello?" After a short pause and a crackling noise, the voice resumed speaking. "Hello, Nick? Are you there?" When Nick eventually spoke, his tone was low and bitter.

"Aisling, who did you tell?" Aisling's response was immediate, almost too hurried, and the indignant note didn't quite carry.

"I didn't tell anyone! I swore that I wouldn't!"

"Then how did the Trustees find out? I didn't tell anyone else." He heard a sigh, followed by a pause.

"Nick, if I let it slip, I really didn't mean it. I was sure I had hidden it- but Connie must have seen it when she entered my encounter." Aisling waited for a response, but she got none. "We can figure something out, though- Connie knows that you'd never encounter Kulevro purposely."

"Kulevro's here now," Nick stated coldly, turning away her attempts at comfort. Aisling screamed softly, before clapping a hand over her mouth. She felt sick with despair; Nick didn't stand a chance against him. They hadn't nearly enough training completed- he would never be able to hold him off for long.

"Nick, get as far away from him as you can. I'll be right over- please, don't listen to him."

"I don't take orders from you." He hung the phone up abruptly, without listening to her anguished pleas. He had trusted her, and she had betrayed him- there was nothing more to it.

He entered the kitchen again, and approached Kulevro slowly, but cautiously. Kulevro had drawn up the hood of his black cloak, so he could not read his expression. If he had been able to see his face, he would have seen a smirk of conquest- Kulevro knew he had won.

"You said you wanted to make me an offer. What was it?"

"Sanctuary. I have connections posted in every corner of the world. I can place you somewhere where the Society will never find you. Better than rotting away in a jail cell, don't you think?" Nick leaned heavily against a wall, visibly hesitating. After a few minutes, he nodded.

"Okay. I'll do it." Kulevro's eyes narrowed in triumph, and his cloak fell from his shifting form, as he took on the appearance of a jet-black sylph. The shape looked nothing like the airy, ethereal creatures that Nick had seen before, in the shape of Omar's companion, with their transparent, yet recognizable features. This creature looked like a charcoal drawing gone horribly wrong, its dark colour and smudged edges resembling a low-lying storm cloud.

Nick focused on the one part that stood out from the shapeless mist, in the form of Kulevro's distinguishable red and blue eyes. "Don't touch the ground," the mist warned, before sweeping Nick up in a torrent of black smoke. Nick began to feel worried- held in the forced encounter, Kulevro's emotions did not feel remotely sympathetic.

Suddenly, the front door rattled loudly, and its wooden frame banged against the wall in the hallway. Aisling raced into the kitchen, but it was too late for her to do anything. Kulevro gave an unearthly screech, and the glass in the windows shattered. The charred letter, which had been previously rendered harmless, burst into violent flames. Aisling sank to her knees, hands held over her ears, face contorted in pain- she had been hit by fragments of the glass, and trickles of blood were running down her forehead.

"Aisling!" Nick shouted, finally realizing the enormity of the mistake he had just made. Her eyes gave a minute flicker. "Aisling, get help!" The cloud engulfed him fully, drowning out any further speech, before floating out through the windows, leaving the house to burn behind them.

**A/N: After that thread metaphor at the beginning, I was SO tempted to mention 'atomic or otherwise' at the tea towel mention… although, personally, I'd think an atomic tea towel would stand a fairly good chance against Kulevro… especially Boggle-Woggle The Atomic Tea Towel!**

**What are your thoughts on the matter? Review, and let me know!**


	35. Fire

_A/N: This post is in connection with Project Pull; for more info, see my profile._

Thanks to my lovely reviewers; Messy Ink, Mbali97, Angelmail and k8yx- especially k8yx, for taking the time to review several chapters at once :) Thanks, guys!

**Chapter 35- Fire**

* * *

A small twinge of pain, and then… nothingness. The silvery astral thread that held the universal and her companion together gradually began to slacken and unravel at the base. Raincolt's ears twitched, and the soft white hairs of his coat stiffened almost simultaneously. He didn't need any clearer signal than that- his companion was in danger, and her condition was worsening with every passing minute. He didn't have a moment to lose.

With a sharp, well-placed kick of his hind legs, the rusty bolt on the door behind him loosened. A second kick unlocked it completely. A few pegasi and unicorns in the surrounding stalls lifted their heads curiously at the sound, but retreated to the far corner of their stall after Raincolt sent out a mental warning, the urgent thought piercing through any other wisps of conversation like a dagger through silk.

_Stand back. _With a final kick, the well-worn wooden door splintered along the hinges, and fell from the door frame. Its descent was muffled slightly by the cushion of dried straw scattered across the floor, but the anticipated crash was still startling. One of the braver pegasus foals slipped out through a loose board in its stall to examine the proceedings. Raincolt barely spared it a passing glance as he galloped out of the stable, leaving the other equines eyeing the remainder of the door in bewilderment.

* * *

The unicorn relied on instinct rather than senses as he followed the loosened thread that tied him to Aisling, as blind as Theseus in the labyrinth other than the overwhelming need to find his companion. He hesitated, but only momentarily, as he reached the outskirts of Hescombe; he could tell that she wasn't far away. He really didn't care who saw him, as long as his companion was all right.

Smoke continued to billow from the windows of the Cony's house, but it had slowed to a lazier pace, reminiscent of a chimney in the countryside on a cold winter evening. The front door didn't put up any resistance; charred completely black, it crumbled at the slightest touch. Raincolt desperately hoped that he was not already too late; the house looked like it had been hit by a bomb.

'_Aisling?' _he called. '_Companion, where are you?' _He felt out for her presence; a faint, almost indiscernible line was coming from the direction of the kitchen. It would be safe to communicate at such a distance, without posing a harm to her in her weakened state.

'_Companion, where are you?' _he repeated, a tone of panic beginning to show through his thoughts. A different mental voice greeted him than the one that he had been expecting; a smooth, flowing tone which poured into his mind.

"_She's in here. Hurry; I can't hold them off much longer." _Flames were already licking the edges of the corridor. Raincolt had no choice but to follow the instructions of the voice, regardless of the fact that it was possibly a trap. The kitchen door was already ajar, so he pushed it open with his nose cautiously. He could feel the heat of the fire emanating from the room. It seemed almost impossible that anything could survive in there.

The sight that met him was infinitely better than what he had dreaded, but his companion was still in no condition to exit the house on her own. Several gashes and cuts marred her face and neck, and the material of her jumper had been singed off completely; a nasty burn was visible through the remaining shreds of the sleeves.

It was only due to the fact that one of the pipes had burst from being exposed to the pressure of the flames that Aisling was otherwise unharmed. She lay in a puddle of water, surrounded by flames which the water sprite sitting by her side would not allow to touch her.

'_Take her; quickly. I'll make sure that they won't harm you." _With a start, Raincolt realized that the water sprite was using Aisling as a medium with which to communicate with him. She was still conscious- but only barely.

"_Aisling. Wake up." _He nudged her gently, trying to ignore the fire-imps flickering around them menacingly. He wouldn't be able to put her on his back by himself, and the water sprite, due to her translucency, would be no use in assisting her. He touched his horn to her forehead, and sent a temporary jolt of energy through her.

Aisling's eyes opened immediately, the dazed look in them quickly replaced with panic.

"Where's Nick?" she asked, looking around the kitchen wildly. "We need to go get help." Her voice was already beginning to soften, and she struggled to keep her eyelids open.

'_We'll worry about him later,' _Raincolt stated bluntly. '_We need to get you out of here first.' _

Aisling scrambled onto his back clumsily, twisting her fingers in his mane to keep herself awake. The unicorn inclined his head to the water sprite in thanks, before bolting from the ruins of the house. It was not a moment too soon; seconds after they had passed through the doorway, the framework collapsed in on itself, blocking off the corridor. The water sprite sank into a grate and disappeared, leaving the fire imps hissing and crackling in fury behind them.

* * *

Once they were a safe distance from the village border, Raincolt slowed and stopped to allow Aisling to dismount. She slid from his back listlessly and sank into the soft heather that dotted the grounds of the moors, and Raincolt touched his horn to the cuts, bruises and burns that marred her skin until they had faded almost completely. She struggled to stand up, using her companion as support.

"Is there anybody still at the Masterson's?" she asked, urgency placing a staccato emphasis on each word.

'_Yes, I believe so. They'll want to hear about the house. I wouldn't be surprised if it's part of the chain of arson that Kulevro was involved in a few weeks ago.'_

"That's just the thing, Raincolt," Aisling whispered. "Kulevro _was involved. And he's got Nick."_


End file.
